fMvesqfthe  Campus 

Joseph  W{  Coch ran 


tfbrarjp  of  t:he  theological  Seminar;? 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•<i^^j> 


PRESENTED  BY 


Del a van  L.    Pier son 


BR  1703  .C63 

Cochran,  Joseph  Wilson,  1867| 

Heroes  of  the  campus 


^ 


iU^^T^^-^ 


o 


< 


< 

P3 
H 
O 
O 


Heroes  of  the  Ca 


The  Records  of  a  Few  of  Those 
Knightly  Souls  Who,  Burning  Out 
for  God,  Kindled  Unqucnched  Fires 
in  the  Lives  of  Their  Fellow  Students 


R. 


JOSEPH  W.  COCHRAN 


Philadelphia 

The  West77iinste7'  Press 
1917 


Copyright,  19 17, 
By  F.  M.  Braselmann 


To 
MY  MOTHER 


I  want  a  hero — well,  that  wish  is  wise, 
Who  hath  uo  hero  lives  not  near  to  God  ; 

For  heroes  are  the  steps  by  which  \\t  rise 
To  reach  the  hand  that  lifts  us  from  the  sod. 

— James  Blackie. 


What  are  those  lovely  ones,  yea,  what  are  these  ? 
Lo,  these  are  they  who  for  pure  love  of  Christ 
Cast  off  the  trammels  of  soft  silken  ease, 
Beggaring  themselves  betimes,  to  be  sufficed 
Throughout  heaven's  one  eternal  day  of  peace  : 
By  golden  streets,  thro'  gates  of  pearl  unpriced. 
They  entered  on  the  joys  that  will  not  cease. 
And  found  again  all  first  fruits  sacrificed. 
And  wherefore  have  you  harps,  and  wherefore  palms, 
And  wherefore  crowns,  O  ye  who  walk  in  white? 
Because  our  happy  hearts  are  chanting  psalms. 
Endless  Te  Deum  for  the  ended  fight, 
While  thro'  the  everlasting  lapse  of  calms 
We  cast  our  crowns  before  the  Lamb  our  Might. 

— Christina  Bossetti. 


[V] 


Contents 

PAGE 

A  Word  at  the  Beginning       .         .       ix 

I.     Horace  Tracy  Pitkin,  of  Yale        .         i 

A  Blood  Witness  of  the  Truth. 

II.     Pitt  Gordon  Knowlton,  of  Oi}erlin       17 

The  Poor  Student  Who  Made  Others  Rich. 

III.  Kin  Takahashi,  of  Marvville  .         .       27 

A  Japanese  Battering-Rani  for  God. 

IV.  Arthur    Frame    Jackson,    of  Cam- 

bridge     37 

**  Whose   Life    Was  in   the  Saving  of  the 
World.'' 

V.     Hugh  McAllister  Beaver,  of  Penn- 
sylvania State  College         .         .       53 

The  Boy  Who  Could  See  the  Master's  Face. 

VI.     Isabella     Marion     Vosburgh,     of 

Mount  Holyoke    ....       69 
How  One  Girl  Became  Human  Radium. 

VII.     Forbes  Robinson,  of  Cambridge       .       81 

Champion  of  the  Average  Man. 

VIII.     William  Whiting  Borden,  of  Yale       91 

The  Man  with  a  Million  for  the  Kingdom. 
[vii] 


CONTENTS 


IX.     Ion  Keith  Falconer,  of  Cambridge     ioi 
A  Burning  and  a  Shining  Light. 

X.     Samuel  John  Mills,  of  Williams     .     iii 

Who  Made  a  Haystack  Famous. 

XI.     Elijah  Kellogg,  OF  BowDOiN    .         .129 
The  College  Man  Who  Was  a  Boy  at  Eighty. 

XII.     David  Yonan,  of  Davidson       .         .143 
** Greater  Love  Hath  No  Man  Than  This." 

XIII.     Horace  William  Rose,  of  Beloit    .     153 

Winner  of  Men  to  Christ. 

Bibliography 168 


[  viii  ] 


A  Word  at  the  Beginning 

Doubtless  lives  as  heroic  as  auy  of  those  sketched 
in  this  little  volume  could  be  fouud  iu  the  college 
world  to-day,  bringing  fresh  enthusiasms  to  bear  iu 
behalf  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  There  are  warrior 
souls  now  fighting  their  good  fight  in  every  i)art  of 
the  world.  But  the  average  college  student  does  not 
realize  how  much  of  a  good  soldier  he  can  become 
before  he  leaves  his  Alma  Mater.  The  ^*  generation 
of  wings,"  as  the  French  say,  when  speaking  of  the 
new  France,  is  begotten  behind  the  first  line  of 
attack. 

It  is  in  the  hope  that  many  a  student  will  realize 
the  big  opportunities  of  his  campus  life  in  terms  of 
service  and  sacrifice  that  these  sketches  of  brief  but 
glorious  lives  are  presented.  That  quality  of  pre- 
paredness which  alone  can  save  our  age  from  colossal 
sjDiritual  failure  is  the  task  of  the  modern  college. 
The  tragedy  of  college  life  is  the  temptation  to  push 
life  ahead  into  the  future  and  then — never  to  reach  it. 

The  lives  of  Pitt  Gordon  Knowlton,  Kin  Taka- 
hashi,  Isabella  Marion  Vosburgh,  and  David  Yonan 
are  here  for  the  first  time  put  into  print.  They  are 
worthy  of  fuller  treatment.  For  those  who  desire 
to  read  more  widely,  a  partial  bibliography  of 
"Heroes  of  the  Campus"  is  found  at  the  closi*  of 

this  volume. 

J.  W.  C. 

February  i,  1917. 

[ix] 


I 

Horace  Tracy  Pitkin,  of  Yale 
A  Blood  Witness  of  the  Truth 


Courage  is  but  a  word,  and  yet,  of  words, 
The  ouly  sentinel  of  permanence  ; 
The  ruddy  watch  fire  of  cold  winter  days, 
We  steal  its  comfort,  lift  our  weary  swords, 
And  on.     For  faith — without  it — has  no  sense  ; 
And  love  to  wind  of  doubt  and  tremor  sways  ; 
And  life  for  ever  quaking  marsh  must  tread. 

Laws  give  it  not,  before  it  prayer  will  blush, 
Hope  has  it  not,  nor  pride  of  being  true. 
'Tis  the  mysterious  soul  which  never  yields. 
But  hales  us  on  and  on  to  breast  the  rush 
Of  all  the  fortunes  we  shall  happen  through. 
And  when  Death  calls  across  his  shadowy  fields  — 
Dying,  it  answers  :  "  Here  !     I  am  not  dead  !  " 

— John  Galsivorthy. 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN,  OF  YALE 

A  Blood  Witness  of  the  Truth 

"  Name  oue  man  pushiug  Christian  work  hard  in 
college,  who  has  the  undivided  respect  and  admira- 
tion of  the  fellows — an  all-round  leader  in  college 
activities/'  demanded  a  freshman  of  his  father, 
when  the  latter  urged  him  to  "get  into  the  game" 
and  become  a  positive  religious  force  in  college. 
Like  many  another  man  he  was  pushing  life  ahead 
of  him.  "  I  tell  you  there  are  no  such  men,"  the 
freshman  declared  with  vehemence. 

A  sufficient  answer  to  this  not  uncommon  atti- 
tude is  the  life  and  work  of  Horace  Tracy  Pitkin, 
known  throughout  the  world  as  one  of  the  twenty- 
six  missionaries  who  gave  up  their  lives  and  won 
the  martyr  crown  in  the  Boxer  outrages  at  Pao- 
tiug-fu,  China,  in  1900.  His  glorions  death,  fruit- 
ful as  it  has  been  in  scattering  broadcast  the  seed  of 
the  Church,  has  no  deeper  value  than  the  task  he 
accomplished,  while  preparing  for  tlie  work  from 
which  he  was  so  suddenly  summoned  by  the  Mas- 
ter's call.  Horace  Pitkin  had  finished  a  man's  job 
before  he  ever  set  foot  on  the  soil  that  received  his 
last  glad  offering. 

George  Sherwood  Eddy  says  of  Pitkin:  "Even 

[3] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


in  freshinau  year  he  did  not  postpone  his  life.  He 
lived  then."  Another  Yale  man  said  of  him  :  "It 
all  comes  as  a  revelation  to  me  of  what  college 
Christianity  may  be.  Something  of  the  unbounded 
admiration  and  reverence  that  the  average  freshman 
has  for  the  caiDtaiu  of  the  varsity  football  team,  I 
had  for  him  ;  something  of  the  same  pride  at  having 
liim  walk  across  the  campus  with  me,  or  invite  me 
to  his  room." 

As  the  track  men  say,  Pitkin  made  *^  a  good  get- 
away.'^ This  fact  is  referred  to  by  a  classmate  in 
these  words  :  "  Not  a  few  men  make  shipwreck  of 
their  college  Christian  life,  or  at  least  make  it  null 
and  void  of  power  just  because  they  wait  to  see  how 
things  go  religiously  in  college,  not  realizing  that 
the  position  one  takes  the  first  few  weeks  will,  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  determine  the  religious  trend 
of  one's  whole  life.  Not  so  Pitkin.  Through  all 
his  course  from  first  to  last  his  fellow  students 
knew  where  he  stood." 

It  is  worth  while  knowing  that  good  blood  flowed 
in  the  veins  of  this  man.  His  paternal  ancestry 
ran  back  through  distinguished  American  patriots. 
One  of  these  was  governor  of  Connecticut,  and 
William  Pitkin,  the  founder  of  the  American  fam- 
ily, who  came  to  New  England  from  London  in 
1659,  became  attorney -general  of  the  colony  but  five 
years  later. 

On  his  mother's  side  Pitkin  was  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  Elihu  Yale.  His  grandfather  was  Rev.  Cyrus 
Yale,  of  New  Hartford,  Connecticut.  In  1860 
Horace  W.  Pitkin  married  Lucy  Tracy  Yale  at  the 

[4] 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN 


old  homestead  iu  New  Hartford.  The  follow iug 
year  they  settled  iu  Philadelphia,  from  which  city 
Mr.  Pitkiu  conducted  a  chaiu  of  merchaudiziug 
houses  which  supplied  soldiers'  equipment  along 
the  border  between  the  North  and  the  South. 

The  only  son  of  the  family  was  born  in  1869. 
When  he  was  eleven  years  old,  his  mother  died  and 
his  father  assumed  charge  of  the  training  of  young 
Horace.  Mr.  Pitkin,  who  was  of  a  strong  religious 
nature,  gave  much  attention  to  his  son's  early  edu- 
cation, putting  him  in  touch  with  the  best  influ- 
ences. A  constant  stream  of  spleudid  Christian 
men  passed  through  the  Pitkin  home.  Everyone 
who  could  strengthen  the  family  ideals  was  made  a 
welcome  guest.  Mr.  Pitkin  was  accustomed  to  spend 
Sunday  afternoon  in  visiting  those  who  were  sick 
and  iu  prison,  and  otherwise  magnified  his  duties  as 
a  ruling  elder  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Philadelphia.  His  open-hearted  hospitality  and 
great  liberality  were  conspicuous  traits  that  freely 
descended  from  father  to  son. 

From  early  boyhood  Horace  spent  his  summer 
vacations  on  the  old  Yale  homestead  in  Connecticut 
where  his  fresh  and  vigorous  life  is  remembered 
with  great  affection.  Every  day  he  used  to  with- 
draw for  an  hour  or  two  of  Bible  stiidy,  sitting 
under  a  great  ash  tree  with  the  Scriptures  on  his 
lap,  looking  off  to  the  blue  hills  in  deep  meditation 
upon  the  mighty  things  of  God.  His  study  com- 
pleted, he  would  bound  back  with  radiant  face  to 
the  groups  of  friends  on  the  lawn  and  the  tennis 
court,  ready  for  any  manner  of  work  or  frolic. 

[5] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


His  academic  work  was  taken  at  Phillips  Acad- 
emy, Exeter,  New  Hampshire.  Upon  entering 
school  away  from  home  he  sought  the  best  influ- 
ences. The  worthy  attractions  of  schoolboy  life, 
not  its  temptations,  were  his.  He  faced  questions 
of  right  and  wrong  with  absolute  fearlessness.  Al- 
though possessed  of  ample  means  he  had  no  desire 
to  squander  money  on  personal  indulgences.  Money 
was  to  him  a  trust  and,  even  as  a  boy,  he  contributed 
to  charities  with  better  insight  and  judgment  than 
did  many  of  his  elders. 

As  a  young  Christian,  there  was  nothing  of  the 
prig  or  snob  about  Horace  Pitkin.  His  artless 
simplicity,  boyish  gayety,  and  love  of  clean  sport 
instantly  disarmed  the  suspicion  that  he  was  posing 
as  a  saint.  He  despised  cant  and  had  no  use  for 
sanctimony.  On  the  other  hand  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  go  in  for  everything  that  gave  a  religious  tone  to 
student  activities,  taking  a  leading  part  in  all  the 
Christian  activities  of  the  academy  and  the  near-by 
church.  Skilled  in  music,  playing  both  piano  and 
organ,  and  possessed  of  a  fine  tenor  voice,  ''Pitt," 
as  he  was  nicknamed,  was  in  constant  demaud  for 
meetiugs  of  all  kinds.  He  was  ready  to  do  any- 
thing helpful  and  put  every thiug  through  with 
astonishing  thoroughness  and  rapidity.  He  early 
developed  a  mastery  of  detail  and  was  businesslike 
in  all  his  dealings.  Referring  to  his  efficiency 
the  boys  used  to  say  with  a  rough  pun,  ''If  any- 
body kin.  Pit-kin."  While  at  Phillips  Academy, 
he  united  with  the  Church,  actively  associating 
himself  with  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  and 

[6] 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN 


takiDg  a  lead  iu  its  vital  work.  Que  of  the  earliest 
autisaloon  moveiueuts  in  the  viUage  was  started  by 
him.  ^'No  picture  comes  to  me  more  vividly," 
writes  one,  '^thau  that  of  a  great  gather! ug  filling 
the  large  church,  with  Pitkin  as  chairman,  presid- 
ing with  the  dignity  of  a  senator." 

His  scholarship  and  athletic  records  did  not  suffer 
by  reason  of  his  intense  application  to  the  spiritual 
side  of  student  life.  Even  in  the  academy  he  had 
become  an  all-round  man.  When  he  entered  Yale 
in  the  fall  of  1888  he  was  an  upstanding,  clear-eyed, 
energetic  freshman,  with  a  sensitive  mouth  and  a 
strong,  lithe  movement  of  the  body  which  betokened 
perfect  physical  and  mental  coordination.  In  col- 
lege he  found  plenty  of  outlet  for  an  intensely  active 
spiritual  nature.  He  did  not  wait  until  some  one 
dropped  work  into  his  lap.  ''Never  have  I  known 
anyone  with  such  power  of  translating  faith  into 
action.  With  him  to  believe  was  to  do,"  said  his 
roommate.  He  began  to  speak  in  the  class  prayer 
meetings  and  soon  he  was  known  as  one  of  the  best 
speakers,  for,  added  to  natural  oratorical  ability,  was 
the  flaming  love  of  God  burning  in  his  heart.  He 
became  organist  of  the  class  prayer  meetings  and 
could  always  be  counted  on  to  lead  in  the  singing. 

For  two  years  Horace  Pitkin  was  superintendent 
of  the  Bethany  Sunday  School.  He  improved  the 
organization  of  the  school,  bettered  the  discipline, 
and  put  through  a  comprehensive  canvass  of  the 
neighborhood.  Sunday  afternoons  he  would  be 
found  at  Grand  Avenue  Mission  where  evangelistic 
services  were  held.     He  liked  to  plead  with  lost 

[7] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


men  and  his  affection  for  them,  despite  rags  and 
filth,  did  more  than  anything  else  to  make  non- 
Christian  college  men  believ^e  in  him.  Charles 
Sumner  once  admitted  that  he  was  more  interested 
in  the  cause  of  abolition  than  in  the  particular  fugi- 
tive slave  whose  needs  were  presented  to  him.  But 
this  college  man  felt  that  his  interest  in  '*  the  cause  " 
must  needs  be  tested  by  his  love  for  the  individual. 
Writes  a  fellow  student :  "  I  recall  one  instance  when 
we  had  induced  a  poor  fellow  to  brace  up  and  let 
liquor  alone  and  try  to  be  a  man  again.  He  came 
on  the  campus  and  Horace  put  him  in  his  room  on 
the  window  seat  a  few  nights.  Then  he  gave  him 
five  dollars  to  buy  some  better  clothes  and  try  for  a 
job.'^ 

But  it  was  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  that,  aside 
from  his  studies,  occupied  most  of  his  time  and 
thought.  During  his  first  vacation  he  went  with 
the  Yale  delegation  to  the  college  conference  at 
Northfield.  It  was  at  this  conference  that  his  life 
work  was  clearly  presented  to  him  and  he  joyfully 
accepted  the  declaration  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement.  In  the  official  organ  of  the  movement, 
Pitkin  told  of  his  decision  to  become  a  missionary  : 

*'I  had  just  finished  my  freshman  year  at  Yale. 
Of  course  I  had  no  conception  of  the  great  advan- 
tages of  an  early  decision  which  confront  the  student 
of  to-day.  .  .  .  My  ideas  of  mission  work  were 
very  vague  and,  which  was  quite  worse,  no  organiza- 
tion, such  as  now  exists,  stood  ready  with  pamphlets, 
books,  and  study  classes,  to  guide  and  fortify  me." 

In  the  fall  the  new  recruit  returned  to  college, 

[8] 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN 


fired  with  the  purpose  to  make  Yale  a  great  mis- 
sionary center.  There  was  no  vohinteer  band  at 
tliat  time,  but  with  fiery  zeal  and  fine  organizing 
ability  Pitkin  started  a  work  that  gathered  mo- 
mentum with  every  passing  month.  Mission  study 
classes  were  formed  and  student  bands  went  out  to 
churches  and  societies  to  speak  in  behalf  of  for- 
eign missions.  Many  counties  were  thus  covered. 
'^Thanks  be  to  God,"  said  the  young  enthusiast, 
*'  he  did  use  the  decision  so  that  in  my  senior  year 
Yale  had,  instead  of  one  volunteer  besides  myself,  a 
band  of  twenty-four," 

At  college  Pitkin  left  a  remarkable  record  of 
achievement.  Largely  through  his  efforts  Yale  be- 
came a  missionary  college,  and  her  Yale  Band  of 
foreign  missionaries  is  known  throughout  Chris- 
tendom. Christian  Endeavor  societies  all  over  the 
State  of  Connecticut  were  swung  into  line  for  mis- 
sions and  dozens  of  mission  libraries  were  estab- 
lished. Pitkin  raised  upwards  of  five  thousand 
dollars  for  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, himself  assuming  one  third  of  the  support  of 
a  missionary  in  China. 

Upon  entering  upon  his  theological  course  at 
Union  Seminary  in  New  York  City,  lie  at  once  de- 
veloped a  plan  of  missionary  propagandism.  At 
the  end  of  his  first  term  he  wrote  : 

''Have  you  heard  of  our  mission  revival  of  this 
term?  It  was  largely  a  work  of  God  and  to  him 
be  all  the  praise  and  glory.  It  was  simply  the  fact 
of  a  volunteer's  dying  in  our  class  that  brought  the 
fellows  together  and  broke  the  ice.     The  evening 

[9] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


after  his  death  we  held  a  class  prayer  meetiug  which 
was  led  by  Eddy,  who  had  just  signed.  Of  course 
he  led  it  iu  the  direction  of  missions  and  one  after 
another  got  up  and  stated  his  personal  reasons  for 
and  against.  Every  man  in  the  class  was  ap- 
proached and  talked  to  as  the  Master  led  us,  and 
we  had  daily  prayer  meetings  and  a  list  of  men  to 
pray  for  each  day.  At  the  end  of  the  week  we  had 
scratched  off  four  and  they  were  with  us  praying 
for  the  rest." 

Mr.  Luce  and  Mr.  Eddy  were  his  colleagues  in 
this  revival.     The  former  says  : 

"  The  influence  of  Pitkin's  example  had  its  work, 
but  we  always  felt  his  prayers  had  a  greater  part. 
We  shall  never  know  the  part  that  his  prayer 
played  in  all  this  or  the  greatness  of  his  joy  when 
these  two  old  friends  (Luce  and  Eddy)  were  led  to 
purpose,  if  God  permit,  to  go  to  the  foreign  field. 
From  that  day  forth  the  prayer  of  the  three  men 
was  like  that  of  one  man." 

Mr.  Eddy  adds  this  testimonial  : 

'^Pitkin's  life  was  to  me  the  unanswerable  proof 
that  God  could  guide,  and  an  example  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  service  oi^en  to  anyone  who  knew  God's 
will.  I  remember  the  night  I  went  up  to  Pitkin's 
room  and  told  him  I  felt  that  I  must  know  God's 
will  for  my  life.  After  prayer  together,  I  went  to 
my  own  room  and,  without  excitement  or  very  much 
emotion,  I  waited  quietly  and  asked  God  to  guide 
me  surely  and  unmistakably.  He  did.  The  simple 
conviction  came  that  it  was  his  will  to  go.  And 
from  that  moment  no  shadow  of  a  doubt  ever  came." 

[10] 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN 


These  three  meu,  like  those  in  the  fiery  furnace 
of  Babylon,  were  feeling  the  power  that  comes 
through  "stringing  one's  life  to  one  great  pur- 
pose." Even  keeping  the  body  fit  and  strong  was 
to  them  part  of  the  great  task  and  in  gymnasium 
practice  their  thought  was  this  :  "  We  must  put  on 
muscle  for  Christ.  This  will  carry  the  gospel  many 
a  mile." 

In  1894  the  triumvirate  of  volunteers  accepted  the 
call  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  to  travel 
through  the  colleges  of  North  America.  Pitkin 
was  assigned  to  the  Middle  West  and  accomplished 
a  notable  work.  He  organized  a  number  of  volun- 
teer bands  and  unified  the  work  with  businesslike 
ability.  The  sjDiritual  side  Wiis,  however,  upper- 
most in  all  his  plans.  He  had  a  prayer  list  of  the 
"back  track"  as  he  called  it,  that  is,  the  institu- 
tions and  men  he  had  already  visited.  His  prac- 
tical, common-sense  methods,  united  with  a  burn- 
ing zeal  and  an  implicit  faith,  made  him  a  master  in 
the  field.  D.  Willard  Lyon  said  of  him,  "  He  could 
translate  his  visions  into  practical  lines  of  action." 

Pitkin  graduated  from  the  seminary  in  the  spring 
of  1896.  The  following  October  he  was  married  to 
Miss  L.  E.  Thomas,  of  Troy,  Ohio,  a  graduate  of 
Mount  Holyoke  College  and  leader  of  its  glee  club 
in  1895.  The  two  young  missionaries  started  for 
China  the  following  month,  under  appointment 
from  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
spending  six  months  visiting  mission  stations  en 
route.  In  the  fall  of  1897  they  found  themselves  at 
Pao-ting-fu,  eighty-eight  miles  south  of  Peking. 

[11] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


For  two  years  Pitkin  wrestled  with  the  laugiiage 
and  toured  the  surrounding  districts  with  older  mis- 
sionaries, writing  long  and  interesting  accounts  of  his 
work  to  the  home  church  and  to  friends.  In  a  let- 
ter written  early  in  1900  he  referred  to  the  gather- 
ing of  the  Boxer  cloud  which  was  soon  to  break 
upon  China  and  overwhelm  the  devoted  little  band 
of  missionaries  at  Pao-ting-fu  : 

"  China  is  full  of  secret  societies.  .  .  .  They 
attack  missionaries  and  converts,  the  result  of  the 
hated  ^foreign  devil's'  religion.  Not  dariug  to  at- 
tack the  missionary,  perhaps,  they  wreak  vengeance 
on  his  converts.  Such  was  the  massacre  of  the  Eng- 
lish missionaries  on  or  near  the  coast  in  the  south 
some  years  ago,  such  was  the  great  revolution  of 
Yang  Tse  Kiaug  before  that  time,  and  such  is  the 
cause  of  the  widespread  troubles  near  here  to-day. 
.  .  .  Societies  are  being  formed  within  twenty- 
five  miles  of  us  to  the  south,  and  encircling  the  city 
the  plague  has  spread  to  the  north  of  us.  .  .  . 
Eeport  had  it  that  our  compound  and  the  Presby- 
terian compound  were  to  be  wiped  out  the  eighth 
or  eighteenth  of  this  month.  To-day  is  the  ninth, 
so  I  guess  we  shall  survive  the  eighteenth  as  well." 

In  a  letter  to  Yale  men  written  April  27,  1900,  he 
told  of  sending  Mrs.  Pitkin  and  little  Horace  to 
America : 

**  Now  the  house  is  immense  and  I  do  not  like  it 
one  bit,  but  don't  you  care,  think  of  the  poor 
*  celebrates  '  who  do  not  have  seven  months  hence  to 
look  forward  to.  .  .  .  Dr.  Hodge  of  Philadel- 
phia and  Mrs.  Hodge  {iiee  Sinclair)  will  be  right  next 

[12] 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN 


door  .  .  .  SO  we  shall  have  a  merry  party."  His 
last  letter  to  the  Pilgrim  Church  of  Clevelaud,  which 
had  adopted  the  Pitkins  as  their  reiiresentatives  oij 
the  foreigu  field,  explained  why  Mrs.  Pitkin  re- 
turned, and  added  :  "Won't  it  make  China  seem 
near  to  you  !  and  America  to  us  ?  There  is  only  one 
objection  to  it,  it  will  take  away  from  our  heads  the 
halos  that  some  of  you  have  insisted  upon  placing 
there,  and  you  will  be  disappointed  in  finding  us 
just  like  common  folks.  'Huh!  Nothing  par- 
ticularly like  martyrdom  in  this  foreign  work,'  and 
you  are  right !  We  have  been  trying  to  tell  you 
that  right  along — because  we  do  not  believe  in 
martyrs  either." 

The  storm  increased  in  fury.  In  his  last  letter, 
written  June  2,  1900,  to  associates  in  Peking,  and 
carried  by  a  Chinese  runner,  who  succeeded  in  pass- 
ing the  Boxer  lines,  he  described  scenes  of  pillage 
and  massacre  : 

"  It  may  be  the  beginning  of  the  end.  God  rules 
and  somehow  his  Kingdom  must  be  brought  about 
in  China.  .  .  .  It  is  a  grand  cause  to  die  in, 
.  .  .  Jesus  shall  reigu  .  .  .  but  we  do  hope 
a  long  life  may  be  for  us  in  this  work.  The  moon 
gets  brighter  every  night  and — what  then"?  God 
leads,  thank  God  he  does !  We  cannot  go  out  to 
figlit— we  must  sit  still  at  our  work  and  take  quietly 
whatever  is  sent  us." 

On  the  afternoon  of  June  30  a  mob  set  fiie  to  the 
American  Presbyterian  Mission,  looted  the  hospital 
and  chapel,  burned  the  houses  of  the  missionaries, 
and  inaugurated  a  general  massacre  of  the  missiou- 

[13] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


aries  aud  native  Christians.  Horace  Pitkin  wrote 
bis  final  letters,  prayed  with  a  faithful  manservant 
and  left  him  one  parting  word,  "  Tell  the  mother  of 
little  Horace  to  tell  Horace  that  his  father's  last 
wish  was  that  when  he  is  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
he  should  come  to  China  as  a  missionary." 

Mr.  Pitkin  endeavored  to  save  the  lives  of  Miss 
Morrell  and  Miss  Gould,  holding  the  crowd  at  bay 
until  his  ammunition  was  exhausted.  Then  he  and 
the  two  missionary  women  suffered  death  by  the 
sword,  the  head  of  Mr.  Pitkin  being  severed  from 
his  body. 

Lao-man,  the  old  letter  carrier  and  servant,  tells 
how  Mr.  Pitkin  urged  the  aged  man  to  escape  over 
the  wall  and  seek  a  hiding  place.     He  says  : 

''  I  was  a  long  time  with  Pastor  Pitkin.  He  was 
composed  and  calm.  He  told  me  of  some  things  the 
schoolboys  had  buried,  hoping  to  save  them,  and 
then  took  out  a  letter  he  had  just  written  to  Pi  Tai 
Tai,  and  his  camera,  and  said  :  *  You  go  with  me 
and  we  will  bury  these  things  in  the  ground  under 
the  dovecote,  so  when  all  is  over  you  will  know 
where  to  find  them.  Send  or  take  them  to  the 
soldiers  from  the  west,  or  whoever  comes  with  them, 
so  that  my  wife  may  be  sure  to  receive  them.'  We 
went  out,  dug  quite  a  deep  hole  and  put  them  care- 
fully in,  wrapped  in  waterproof  covers.  Then  we 
went  back  to  the  pastor's  room  and  talked  till  after 
midnight.  We  knew  little  of  the  fate  of  the 
Presbyterian  friends,  but  were  sure  that  none  were 
living.  At  last,  Mr.  Pitkin  said,  '■  Do  not  risk  your 
life  any  longer,  but  get  over  the  wall  in  some  place 

[14] 


HORACE  TRACY  PITKIN 


as  retired  as  may  be  aud  get  iuto  biding  before 
dawn.  My  letter  may  be  found  and  destroyed.  If 
you  learn  that  it  is,  send  word  to  Pi  Tui  Tai  that 
God  was  with  me  and  his  peace  was  my  consohi- 
tion.'  Then  we  knelt  dowD  aud  prayed  together 
and  he  sent  me  away.'' 

Between  the  ruins  of  the  two  mission  compounds 
a  plot  of  ground  was  purchased  aud  there  tweuty- 
six  coffins  were  lowered  iuto  the  graves  while  a  little 
band  of  Christians  sang  in  Chinese  : 

*'  Light  after  darkness,  gain  after  loss, 
Strength  after  weakness,  crown  after  cross." 

Surely  the  greatest  memorial  of  such  a  life  is  not 
found  in  tablets,  or  biographies,  or  even  in  hospital 
or  mission  buildings.  It  is  in  the  lives  of  God's 
children  who  catch  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  and  leap  at 
the  call  of  Christ  to  engage  in  that  service  for  which 
Horace  Pitkin  and  hundreds  of  others  have  laid 
down  their  lives. 

What  is  your  answer  to  such  a  life  ?  Have  you 
accepted  the  challenge  of  this  modern  martyr  ? 

•*  What  is  the  issue  to  be  ?    What  legacy,  say,  to  your  childreu 
Will  you  bequeath?      What  increment  added?    What  fur- 
ther example 
Yet  of  noble  deeds,  what  self  crucifixion  in  laying 
All  that  you  have,   that  you  are,  at  the  feet  of  a  crucified 
Saviour?  " 


[15] 


II 

Pitt  Gordon  Knowlton,  of  Oberlin 
The  Poor  Student  Who  Made  Others  Rich 


I  will  stretch 
My  hands  out  once  again.     And,  as  the  God 
That  made  me  is  the  Heart  within  my  heart, 
So  shall  my  heart  be  to  this  dust  and  earth 
A  god  and  a  creator.     I  will  strive 
With  mountains,  fires  and  seas,  wrestle  and  strive, 
Fashion  and  make,  and  that  which  I  have  made 
In  anguish  I  shall  love  as  God  loves  me. 

— Noyes, 


TI 

PITT  GORDON  KNOWLTON,  OF  OBERLIN 

The  Poor  Student  Who  Made  Others  Blch 

A  STRUGGLING  coUege,  situated  educationally  on 
''the  far-flung  battle  line,"  was  facing  its  darkest 
hour.  The  trustees  were  contemplating  closing  its 
doors  on  account  of  lack  of  funds.  The  teachers' 
salaries  had  not  been  paid  for  months.  Only  the 
bravest  souls  could  endure  such  an  ordeal.  "  The 
irdths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave. "  Yes,  but  this 
was  different.  It  was  living — living  without  the 
means  of  living,  and  without  the  glory. 

It  was  then  that  Pitt  Gordon  Knowlton,  who  had 
built  up  the  departments  of  philosophy  and  educa- 
tion at  Fargo  College,  an  A.  B.  of  Oberlin,  A.  M. 
of  Harvard,  and  Ph.  D.  of  Leipsig,  saw  his  way  out 
of  a  situation  fraught,  for  himself  and  for  his  family, 
with  such  distressing  features.  He  received  a  ctiU 
to  return  to  his  Alma  Mater  where,  as  a  student,  he 
had  so  distinguished  himself.  Was  not  all  the  past, 
with  its  heavy  drainage  of  life  forces  in  overcoming 
an  untoward  environment,  a  fit  preparation  for  the 
reward  now  placed  in  his  hands?  Why  tempt 
Providence  by  a  sentimental  refusal  of  the  larger 
and  more  comfortable  place?  Let  a  younger  man 
take  his  post  and  endure  hardness  as  he  had  done. 

[19] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Is  there  uot  a  liuiit  to  sacrifice,  a  i)oiut  where  it 
becomes  foolhardiness "? 

We  may  imagine  a  tall,  spare  man,  big-boned 
but  stoop-sliouldered,  with  a  kindly  eye,  broad  fore- 
head, and  mobile  mouth  half  hidden  beneath  a 
heavy  black  beard,  wearily  resting  his  head  on  his 
hand  as  he  sits  at  his  desk  thinking  out  this  prac- 
tical problem  in  ethics.  Memory  must  have  re- 
verted to  the  days  when  he,  a  motherless,  neglected 
farmer's  boy,  grubbed  out  the  stumps  and  rocks  on 
a  little  farm  in  northeastern  Ohio,  in  return  for 
lodging,  shirt,  and  overalls.  He  must  have  thought 
of  all  the  years  of  uphill  climbing  from  the  day 
Kew  Lyme  Institute  opened  its  doors  until  the  great 
German  university  invested  him  with  the  insignia 
of  the  doctorate  of  philosophy.  Finally,  he  could 
not  forbear  the  reflection  that  the  effort  to  put  the 
small  Christian  college  on  its  feet,  academically  and 
financially,  had  cost  him  much  of  physical  vigor  and 
intellectual  toil.  Had  he  not  paid  the  full  price  of 
his  ideals  ? 

JSTo  !  A  thousand  times,  no  !  Watch  those  black 
eyes  snap  and  the  jaw  set  as  though  the  tempter  of 
souls  were  whispering  in  his  ear.  He  will  not  de- 
sert Fargo  College.  He  will  lay  down  his  life,  if 
need  be,  rather  than  see  it  close  its  doors. 

The  next  mail  bore  a  courteous  reply  to  Oberlin 
declining  the  honor  of  an  appointment  to  its  faculty. 
That  quiet  renunciation  meant  new  life  to  hundreds 
of  the  rising  generation  of  students,  but  it  took  life 
also.     Knowlton  paid  the  price. 

Pitt  Gordon  Knowlton  was  born  at  Eock  Creek, 

[20] 


PITT  GORDON   KNOWLTON 


Ohio,  November  30,  1859.  His  father  worked  a 
small  farm  iu  oue  of  the  townships  of  northeastern 
Ohio,  wresting  a  meager  living  from  the  poor  soil 
of  that  regioD.  When  Pitt  was  still  a  small  boy, 
his  mother  died,  and  after  that  home  life  was  what 
a  hard-working  farmer  and  his  two  boys  could 
bring  into  it.  Poverty  and  hardship  were  Pitt's 
bedfellows ;  the  finer  things  of  life  were  unknown. 
But  he  was  destined  to  give  a  course  to  college 
seniors  on  ''Life  as  a  Practical  Problem"  and  it 
was  here  that,  as  a  sad-hearted  little  farm  drudge, 
he  was  unconsciously  collecting  material. 

From  a  home  bereft  of  the  ministries  of  woman- 
hood, and  granting  only  the  barest  necessities  for 
the  sternest  kind  of  labor,  came  this  ungainly  youth 
of  eighteen  seeking  admittance  to  the  institute  at 
South  New  Lyme.  He  was  an  unlikely  specimen 
of  former's  boy,  but  Jacob  Tuckerman  saw  beneath 
the  rough  exterior  a  rare  nature.  This  old  fash- 
ioned educator  was  seeking,  not  to  mold  character 
as  though  it  were  plaster,  but  to  hew  it  like  granite 
from  the  elemental  quarries  of  life.  He  found  in 
Knowlton  the  right  stuff  and  he  chiseled  ratlier 
than  polished.  Soon  the  boy  became  known  as  tlie 
finest  scholar  in  the  academy.  His  opinions  in  the 
classroom  were  sound  and  original  and  he  was 
listened  to  with  respectful  attention.  His  lofty 
moral  and  religious  standards  produced  a  marked 
influence  upon  the  school. 

When  the  time  came  for  graduation,  Dr.  Tucker- 
man persuaded  Knowlton  that  a  college  education 
was  possible  without  ready  money.     Realizing  the 

[21] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


odds  against  him,  the  young  man  matriculated  at 
Oberliu  in  1886,  and  began  his  fight.  He  would 
take  every  sort  of  odd  job  he  could  find,  working 
on  farms  during  the  summer,  coaching  poor  stu- 
dents, tending  furnaces,  and  the  like,  until  Peters 
Hall  was  opened.  He  was  there  installed  as  head 
janitor,  a  post  which  he  filled  until  graduation. 
One  of  his  fellow  students  writes  : 

"  Pitt  Knowlton  won  his  laurels  at  the  end  of  a 
broom.  He  came  to  Oberlin  a  homeless  lad,  alone 
in  the  world,  his  hands  hardened  and  his  shoulders 
bowed  with  toil,  but  with  the  love  of  God  and  his 
fellow  men  in  his  heart,  and  hungry  for  learning, 
for  friends,  and  for  his  Master's  work — and  he 
found  them  all.  Indomitable  grit  brought  him  to 
the  doors  of  the  college  and  carried  him  through  to 
graduation  in  1890,  working  his  way  not  by  the 
wiles  of  the  book  agent  but  by  the  long  hours  of 
labor  and  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  Every  man  and 
woman  in  college  admired  his  enterprise  and  tenac- 
ity of  purpose.  He  enlarged  and  glorified  the  work 
of  janitor  and  teacher  alike.  We  were  all  glad  to 
be  his  friends,  forgetful,  as  he,  of  his  threadbare 
coat,  his  cotton  umbrella,  his  uncouth  manner,  and 
strident  voice,  for  behind  all  there  was  a  loyal  soul 
radiating  cheer,  a  veritable  fountain  of  good  will." 

The  temptation  to  a  student  thus  forced  to  make 
his  way  is  to  draw  within  himself  and  indulge  in 
self-pity.  But  Knowlton  betrayed  no  tinge  of 
bitterness,  jealousy,  or  suspicion.  He  was  not  only 
unashamed  of  manual  work  but  gloi'ied  in  it  and 
rose  above  its  supposed  handicaps.     He  was  almost 

[22] 


PITT  GORDON   KNOWLTON 


aggressive  iu  his  fiieudsliips,  by  reason  of  his  sense 
of  humor  aud  his  frauk  and  hearty  interest  iu  his 
fellows.  They  declare  him  to  have  been  the  best- 
known  and  best-loved  man  in  college,  with  a  circle 
of  lasting  friendships  unsurpassed  for  their  depth 
aud  permanence. 

President  Henry  Churchill  King  has  testified  to 
his  '^  admiration  for  the  essential  fiueness  and  ten- 
derness of  his  strong  nature.  He  exerted  steadily 
a  strong  influence  in  the  college,  was  always  out- 
spoken for  the  best  things,  and  could  be  absolutely 
counted  on  for  loyalty  to  the  best  in  college  life." 

After  winning  the  Walker  fellowship  for  work  at 
Harvard,  Knowltou  spent  two  years  in  graduate 
work,  receiving  his  master's  degree  iu  1892.  For 
one  year  thereafter  he  taught  at  the  Ohio  State 
University,  then  went  abroad  for  a  year's  work  at 
Berlin,  completing  his  thesis  on  the  "  Origin  and 
i^ature  of  Conscience  "  for  the  doctor's  degree  at  the 
University  of  Leipsig  in  1896. 

Oberlin  was  a  sort  of  big  mother  of  Fargo.  Both 
Congregational  in  their  religious  affiliations,  the  two 
colleges  have  always  enjoyed  a  close  interchange  of 
ideas.  Thus,  when  Fargo  was  looking  for  a  dean, 
what  more  natural  than  that  Oberlin  should  suggest 
the  man  of  all  men  who  had  laid  the  impress  of  his 
mind  aud  soul  on  his  Alma  Mater  during  the  later 
eighties'?  Only  seveu  years  from  janitor  to  dean  ! 
Think  of  that,  you  who  imagine  it  takes  money  that 
some  one  else  has  earned  to  establish  yourselves  iu 
life  and  attain  a  position  of  recognized  standing  ! 

There  are  no  dramatic  incidents  to  record  of  his 

[  -33  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


sixteen  years  as  teacher  iu  Fargo  College,  except  as 
that  life  is  most  trulj^  dramatic  which  most  truly 
lives.  Character  is  essentially  romantic,  but  the 
world  wants  excitement  and  noise  and  passion, 
mistakenly  associating  these  with  the  dramatic  and 
romantic. 

Dr.  Knowltou  was  not  a  "swashbuckler"  in 
education.  He  never  sought  notoriety  or  courted 
the  press.  Let  other  professors  make  startling  state- 
ments to  their  classes  for  the  sake  of  attracting  the 
public  attention,  let  them  write  for  the  magazines 
and  give  Chautauqua  lectures,  and  attend  conven- 
tions as  they  would  ;  he  had  little  time  for  all  this. 
He  was  busy  in  the  laboratory  of  life.  He  was  a 
handler  of  precious  ore.  He  kei3t  the  temperature 
just  right  for  the  refining.  He  could  not  afford 
to  let  his  classes  '^cool'^  while  he  ran  away  for  a 
few  days  on  some  little  commercial  aside.  He 
stayed  with  the  stuff  and  made  something  out  of  it. 
Often  he  was  known  to  absent  himself  from  some 
social  function  only  to  be  found  walking  with  a 
student  along  the  roadside  or  in  the  fields.  He  was 
always  seeking  light,  and  he  was  as  happy  in  find- 
ing a  gleam  in  the  mind  of  a  pupil  as  a  searchlight 
in  the  works  of  a  master. 

This  is  the  reason  there  is  little  to  tell  of  those 
sixteen  years,  for  the  things  he  said  and  did  were 
done  in  quiet  places.  Tlie  surgical  operation  by 
which  the  infusion  of  blood  is  accomplished,  the 
stronger  giving  his  life  to  the  weaker,  is  a  noiseless 
process.  Dr.  Knowlton,  as  some  one  said,  ''gave 
away  more  learning  than  most  of  us  acquire."    Yes, 

[24] 


PITT   GORDON   KNOWLTON 


but  tlie  siguificant  words  are  these  :  He  gave  away 
the  learuiDg — he  did  not  sell  it — and  it  was  sound  to 
the  core  and  up-to-date.  He  was  en  rapport  with 
Bergson  and  Eucken.  His  pedagogy  was  abreast  of 
the  minute.  His  bibliography  contained  the  latest 
books  on  the  subject.  His  classes  in  philosophy 
were  always  crowded.  It  was  no  unusual  sight  to 
witness  his  desk  surrounded  by  a  group  of  interested 
students  discussing  the  question  of  the  hour  long 
after  the  signal  for  dismissal  had  been  given.  Fre-  / 
quently  his  lectures  were  punctuated  with  ajiplause 
as  he  made  some  telling  point  or  illuminated  some 
abstruse  question  with  penetrating  comment. 

His  hope  had  been  to  complete  a  certain  manu- 
script on  which  he  had  worked  for  years.  But  the 
unfinished  work  is  a  mute  though  eloquent  monu- 
ment to  his  self-effacing  spirit.  While  other  teach- 
ers have  written  libraries  in  ink  and  paper  his  list  of 
works  is  incarnated  in  living  epistles  known  and 
read  of  all  men.  In  an  address  before  the  students 
of  the  University  of  North  Dakota  on  ''Freedom 
and  Independence,"  Dean  Knowlton  said,  *'No 
man  can  be  strong  who  is  not  in  accord  with  his 
fellow  men  and  who  does  not  serve  them." 

On  May  5,  1913,  this  great  soul  lay  down  life's 
burden  and  entered  into  rest.  ''  This  rough  horse- 
play of  life,"  as  Stevenson  puts  it,  had  so  weakened 
his  constitution  that  he  fell  an  easy  prey  to  pneu- 
monia within  a  few  days. 

"  He  believed  in  the  largest  possible  self  in  order 
that  he  might  give  the  greatest  possible  service," 
was  the  keynote  of  the  tribute  paid  him  by  Dr.  C.  C. 

[25] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Creegan,  the  president  of  Fargo  College,  on  the  day 
of  the  funeral.  While  others  may  seek,  in  the 
teaching  profession  and  elsewhere,  the  mastery  of 
others  for  the  sake  of  self,  Pitt  Gordon  Knowlton 
sought  the  mastery  of  self  for  the  sake  of  others. 
Such  a  man  can  never  die. 

"  It  is  certainly  worth  while  to  live,"  he  once  de- 
clared in  a  remarkable  address  on  ''Immortality,'' 
"as  though  our  souls  were  an  immortal  trust.  To 
him  who  asserts  the  reality  of  the  best  and  noblest, 
death  comes  simply  as  one  more  great  adventure  he 
must  make,  and  to  that  end  he  sings  with  Stevenson  : 

"  '  This  be  the  verse  you  grave  for  me, 
Here  he  lies  where  he  lonjred  to  be. 
Home  is  the  sailor,  home  from  the  sea, 
And  the  hunter  home  from  the  hill.'  " 


[26] 


Ill 

Kin  Takahashi,  of  Maryville 
A  Japajiese  Battering- Ram  for  God 


Of  wounds  and  sore  defeat 

I  made  my  battle  stay  ; 

Winged  sandals  for  my  feet 

I  wove  of  my  delay  ; 

Of  weariness  and  fear 

I  made  my  shouting  spear ; 

Of  loss,  and  doubt,  and  dread, 

And  swift  oncoming  doom 

I  made  a  helmet  for  my  head 

And  a  floating  plume. 

From  the  shutting  mist  of  death. 

From  the  failure  of  the  breath, 

I  made  a  battle  horn  to  blow 

Across  the  vales  of  overthrow. 

O  hearken,  love,  the  battle  horn  ! 

The  triumph  clear,  the  silver  scorn  ! 

O  hearken  where  the  echoes  bring, 

Down  the  gra}"  disastrous  morn. 

Laughter  and  rallying  ! 

—  William  Vaughn  Mooily. 


Ill 

KIN  TAKAHASHl,  OF  MARYVILLE 

A  Japanese  Battering -Bam  for  God 

A  SMALL,  Dervous  Japanese  in  a  college  dormi- 
tory bends  over  bis  study  table  at  uiiduiglit,  his 
black  eyes  snapping  and  his  whole  being  intensely 
concentrated  upon  the  task  of  moving  twenty-two 
grains  of  corn  into  various  positions.  Those  grains 
of  corn  represent  two  football  teams  and  to-morrow 
*'  Kentucky  Hossie,"  as  the  boys  have  dubbed  him, 
will  be  coaching  the  mountain  boys  of  Maryville 
College  in  a  new  gridiron  formation. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  Takahashi  introduced  foot- 
ball into  Maryville  College.  How  the  undersized 
Japanese  taught  those  surprising  and  elusive  tricks 
merely  by  the  aid  of  a  football  manual  and  his  per- 
sonal practice  plays  with  corn  grains  is  still  told 
with  pride  by  the  loyal  sons  of  Maryville.  His 
lightninglike  dashes  around  the  ends,  puzzling  the 
opposing  team  with  liis  catlike  agility,  are  part  of 
the  athletic  annals  of  Tennessee. 

Kin  Takahashi  was  born  in  Yamaguchi  in  1872. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  sent  by  his  father  to 
America,  in  order  to  learn  English  and  then  retuin 
to   his  native  laud  for  a  commercial  career.     Two 

[29] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


years  in  the  schools  of  San  Francisco  whetted  his 
appetite  for  the  kind  of  learning  not  to  be  measured 
by  commercial  standards,  for  the  young  Shintoist 
had,  meanwhile,  found  the  Way.  The  burning 
question  before  him  was  whether  he  was  to  be  cut 
off  from  the  help  and  consideration  of  his  family. 
He  sat  down  and  wrote  a  letter  to  his  parents  an- 
nouncing his  conversion.  The  result  was  a  complete 
separation  from  his  family.  Both  his  father  and 
mother  indignantly  denounced  him  and  cut  off  his 
generous  allowance. 

Nothing  daunted.  Kin  sought  the  counsel  of  his 
Christian  friends.  He  wanted  to  know  where  he 
might  go  to  school  and,  through  his  own  efforts, 
secure  a  Christian  college  education.  Mary  ville  was 
suggested  and  the  lonely  Japanese  found  his  way 
into  the  heart  of  the  Tennessee  hills  where  he  was 
warmly  received  by  the  president  of  Mary  ville.  He 
entered  the  preparatory  course  in  1888.  He  re- 
mained at  Mary  ville  for  seven  years,  graduating 
with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1895. 

The  career  of  Takahashi  ought  to  be  an  encour- 
agement to  any  poor  boy  who  is  fighting  to  get  an 
education,  and  arouse  in  many  others  the  desire  to 
struggle  through  with  no  funds  but  such  as  can  be 
earned  during  the  course.  Every  penny  of  expense 
during  those  seven  years  was  earned  by  this  young 
man.  His  capacity  for  work  was  almost  limitless. 
Whether  cooking,  waiting  on  tables,  sweeping, 
working  on  the  campus,  lecturing,  or  canvassing, 
Kin  Takahashi  labored  cheerfully  and  always  with 
profit.      His    courtesy,   earnestness,    and   industry 

[  ;>o  ] 


KIN  TAKAHASHI 


won  biiii  a  place  amoug  the  people  of  a  strange 
couutry,  significantly  proving  that  alien  birth  is  no 
inherent  haudicaj)  in  this  land  of  tlie  free. 

As  a  leader  among  his  fellows  he  developed  re- 
markable qualities  almost  from  the  first.  President 
Samuel  T.  Wilson  says,  ''  He  soon  stei^ped  into  the 
position  of  acknowledged  and  unenvied  leader- 
ship." All  forms  of  student  activity — scholastic, 
social,  literar^^,  athletic,  religious — felt  the  impetus 
of  his  intense  personality  and  the  drive  of  his 
genius.  *^  He  was  the  center  and  heart  of  all  the 
college  life,^^  writes  a  friend.  Eefusing  to  specialize 
or  narrow  his  college  activities  he  threw  himself 
into  every  worthy  and  needy  cause  with  eager 
enthusiasm.  Foreigner  though  he  w^as  he  dedicated 
his  talents  and  powers  to  the  building  up  of  the 
American  college  and  the  improving  of  the  campus 
spirit.  He  was  the  soul  of  loyalty  and  an  incur- 
able ''  rooter  ''  for  his  Alma  Mater. 

Kin  Takahashi's  own  problems,  prominent 
among  which  was  the  insatiable  bread  and  butter 
question,  were  incidental  to  the  larger  issues  of 
life.  Indeed  his  personal  interests  served  only  to 
show  him  the  way  out  for  other  students  situated  as 
he  was.  For  example,  he  found  that  a  number  of 
students  were  comj)elled  to  leave  school  every  year 
on  account  of  lack  of  funds.  He  thereupon  or- 
ganized a  self-help  system  and  secured  a  huge 
garden  plat  in  an  unused  portion  of  the  campus 
where  he  set  groups  of  impoverished  students  at 
work.  Out  of  this  has  grown  Maryville's  admi- 
rable plan  of  working  scliolarships  wherein  a  large 

[31] 


HEROES  OF  THE   CAMPUS 


percentage  of  the  students  earn  their  college  ex- 
penses in  whole  or  in  part. 

Takahashi  would  have  become  a  great  captain  of 
industry  had  he  lived  and  entered  ux)on  a  business 
career.  He  worked  out  the  plans  for  the  first  field 
day  at  Mary  ville,  put  athletics  to  the  fore  in  college 
life,  founded  and  edited  a  magazine  called  "  College 
Days,"  and,  without  pretense  of  leadership,  became 
the  very  soul  of  the  student  body. 

But  the  greatest  service  he  rendered  to  Mary  ville, 
indeed  the  greatest  service  ever  rendered  by  any 
student  to  this  institution,  was  the  religious  service 
which  gave  to  Maryville  such  distinction  in  Chris- 
tian student  initiative. 

The  story  of  how  this  poor  Japanese  pushed 
through  his  project  for  building  the  Maryville 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building  and 
gymnasium  reads  like  a  romance.  Toward  the  end 
of  his  course  he  became  convinced  that  God  wanted 
him  to  promote  a  building  enterprise.  According 
to  his  usual  method  he  prayed  earnestly  over  the 
matter  and  then  began  to  "talk  it  up  "  among  the 
students  and  faculty.  Soon  sufficient  interest  was 
aroused  to  warrant  the  organization  of  the  move- 
ment. Subscriptions  of  money  and  work,  principally 
the  latter,  began  to  pour  in.  Kin  Takahashi  heaped 
more  fuel  on  the  fire  and  through  his  senior  year 
continued  the  agitation.  On  graduating  he  did  not 
leave  the  institution  but  stayed  on  the  ground  dur- 
ing the  summer,  building  a  brick  mill  and  kilns 
and,  with  the  help  of  other  students,  burning  three 
hundred  thousand  bricks  during  the  vacation.     In 

[32] 


KIN  TAKAHASHI 


addition  he  organized  a  campaign  of  publicity,  en- 
listing the  active  support  of  newspapers  throughout 
the  state,  and  contributing  further  by  lectures  and 
entertainments  at  which  he  was  an  adept. 

But  the  work  had  only  begun.  Much  money  was 
yet  to  be  raised.  What  would  the  average  college 
man  think  of  spending  two  years  of  his  life,  those 
precious  years  immediately  succeeding  graduation, 
in  raising  funds  for  the  housing  of  the  religious  in- 
terests of  his  college?  This  Oriental,  this  "alien  " 
did  it,  for  his  was  an  enthusiasm  for  college  life  that 
did  Dot  exhaust  itself  in  cheers  and  yells  and  *'  Now- 
boys-the-good-old-song  ! "  Without  a  cent  of  com- 
pensation he  devoted  himself  to  pushing  the  enter- 
prise upon  which  he  had  set  his  heart.  Journeying 
from  city  to  city  in  the  North  he  pleaded  in  burning 
words  for  help  for  his  "  boys."  At  the  close  of  the 
campaign  he  had  secured  sufficient  funds  to  build 
Bartlett  Hall  which  stands  to-day  a  monument  to 
the  zeal  of  this  fiery  heart,  the  little  brown  man  of 
Nippon  whose  banzai  was  "For  Christ." 

"The  college  has  done  so  much  for  me  and  the 
Christian  Church  in  America  has  done  so  much  for 
my  country,  that  I,  a  Japanese,  want  to  do  some- 
thing to  show  my  gratitude,"  he  used  to  say.  It 
was  a  happy  day  for  Kin  when  the  corner  stone  of 
the  Association  Building  was  laid.  He  chose  the 
motto  graven  thereon  :  "  Christ  Our  Corner  Stone." 
On  that  mai'ble  slab  eight  hundred  of  his  fellow 
countrymen  in  American  colleges  can,  if  th<.*y  will, 
read  the  only  hope  of  Nippon's  rebirth  as  a  nation, 
according  to  the  faith  of  Kin  Takahashi. 

[33] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


As  a  member  of  the  Student  Voliiuteer  Baud  Kin 
bad  brought  the  missionary  spirit  to  a  high  stand- 
ard and  had  been  the  means  of  turning  many  faces 
toward  the  great  adventure  for  Christ  in  foreign 
hinds.  He  had  been  an  ardent  personal  worker  in 
the  annual  evangelistic  meeting,  and  his  faith,  his 
perseverance,  and  his  contagious  enthusiasm  had 
marked  him  as  one  signally  equipped  for  conspicu- 
ous service  in  his  homeland. 

His  work  in  America  had  been  accomplished. 
Followed  by  the  love  and  prayers  of  a  host  of 
friends  he  returned  to  Japan  in  the  fall  of  1897  to 
take  up  his  life  work.  Entering  the  Association 
field  at  Tokio  he  was  winning  out  in  the  same  re- 
markable way  as  at  Mary  ville  when  suddenly  a  fatal 
disease  struck  him  and  he  retired  to  Hirao,  a  village 
of  some  seven  thousand  people,  where  the  work  was 
less  strenuous. 

His  serious  decline  in  health  did  not  prevent  his 
entering  heartily  into  the  Christian  work.  Gather- 
ing a  class  of  boys  he  began  to  teach  them  English. 
Later  he  organized  a  literary  society  *'  after  the  dear 
old  Mary  ville  style,"  with  the  intention  of  forming 
a  nucleus  for  Christian  work. 

Though  urged  by  his  physician  to  abandon  the 
task  which  under  his  hands  was  developing  so 
rapidly,  he  continued  to  plan  even  larger  things. 
*'The  work,'^  he  said,  *'  was  too  interesting  for  me 
to  follow  the  advice  of  the  doctor  and  consequently 
I  planned  and  organized  the  society  into  a  school." 

A  staff  of  nine  teachers  was  secured,  not  one  of 
whom  had  a  fixed  salary.     The  school  was  opened 

[34] 


KIN  TAKAHASHI 


with  au  eiirollmeut  of  thirty-four  pupils  and  soon 
was  moved  into  larger  quarters  with  au  atlcudauce 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty. 

This  bold  venture  of  a  young  man  on  the  verge 
of  the  grave  attracted  the  attention  of  educators  and 
olhcials  throughout  the  empire.  The  governor  of 
the  prefecture  and  the  Commissioner  of  Education 
lent  their  presence  to  several  public  occasions  where 
the  excellence  of  Takahashi's  school  was  cordially 
recognized. 

Although  he  had  many  bitter  adversaries,  Kin 
Takahashi  never  allowed  the  missionary  motive  to 
be  obscured.  The  inhabitants  of  Hirao  thought  the 
sickness  of  the  Christian  teacher  was  the  i^unish- 
ment  of  heaven  for  his  haviug  abjured  the  faith  of 
his  ancestors.  The  ingratitude  of  his  fellow  towns- 
men bore  heavily  upon  his  heart  and,  as  his  suifer- 
ings  became  excruciating  and  he  was  able  only  to 
crawl  about,  he  was  tempted  at  times  to  doubt  the 
love  of  his  heavenly  Father.  But,  as  the  end  drew 
near,  the  clouds  were  dispelled  and  his  faith  shone 
out  clear  and  triumphant.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend 
in  America  he  requested  prayers  for  the  success  of 
his  work.  '*  Pray  for  us,  my  friends,  that  this  par- 
ticular plan  may  be  successfully  carried  out  and 
many  souls  may  be  saved  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  planning 
a  new  school  building.  An  eligible  site  had  been 
given  and  he  had  colh^cted  considerable  money. 

On  the  morning  of  May  7,  1902,  Kin  Takahashi's 
spirit  was  released  from  his  torn  body.  Rev.  F.  S. 
Curtis,  of  Tokio,  a  close  friend,  was  summoned  to 

[35] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


coDduct  the  services.  He  says:  ''The  house  aud 
grounds  were  crowded  to  overflowing.  I  supj)ose 
two  hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred  persons 
were  present,  including  the  leading  citizens  of  the 
town,  who  had  been  imjiressed  by  the  earnest  life 
of  this  young  Christian.  The  streets  were  literally 
lined  with  hundreds,  and  when  we  reached  the  hill- 
side where  his  body  was  to  be  interred,  we  found 
nearly  a  thousand  people  gathered." 

Thus  one  of  Japan's  most  vital  Christian  men  was 
cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his  days,  when  the  most  bril- 
liant prospects  of  usefulness  appeared  to  be  opening 
before  his  glowing  vision.  But  why  "cut  off"? 
Takahashi  would  be  the  first  to  repudiate  such  an 
interpretation  of  his  life.  At  the  very  end,  while 
in  great  suffering,  he  spoke  to  a  friend  of  how  "  all 
things  work  together  for  good,"  finding  great  con- 
solation in  the  words  of  the  apostle. 

He  longed  greatly  to  see  his  parents  become 
Christians  but  died  without  having  that  prayer  ful- 
filled. He  saw  his  work  in  Hirao  decline  by  reason 
of  his  illness  aud  many  of  his  cherished  plans 
thwarted.  But  the  light  of  his  faith  burned  the 
brighter  as  his  earthly  projects  failed,  and  he  died 
with  these  words  comforting  his  last  hours,  "My 
earnest  expectation  and  my  hope  is  that  Christ  shall 
be  magnified  in  my  body  ;  whether  by  life  or  by 
death."  "  For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ ;  and  to  die 
is  gain." 


[36} 


IV 

Arthur  Frame  Jackson,  of  Cambridge 
"  Whose  Life  Was  in  the  Saving  of  the  World'' 


In  Memoriam*     A*  F»  ]* 

Hail,  Christian  soldier  !  bravely  hasfc  thou  doue  ! 
We  who  remember  give  God  thanks  for  thee, 
Thy  martyr  spirit  life  through  death  has  won, 
Life  in  eternity. 

Thy  grave  lies  heaped  with  mound  of  alien  earth, 
Far  from  the  home  where  love  and  care  were  thine  ; 
Yet  on  the  home  and  land  that  saw  thy  birth 
Light  from  that  grave  shall  shine. 

Brief  was  thy  service  ;  but  for  thee  need  fall 
No  tear,  nor  pass  the  semblance  of  a  sigh  ; 
Thou  hast  found  kindred  meet  in  heaven's  bright  hall, 
God's  heroes,  crowned  on  high  ! 

For  thou  dost  know  the  glory  and  the  song 
AVhich  fill  with  wonder  all  that  holy  place. 
And  thou  art  crowned  amidst  the  mart3'r  throng 
Who  look  upon  God's  face, 

—  A^elson  Biiton. 


IV 

ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON,  OF  CAM- 
BRIDGE 

"  Whose  Life  Was  in  the  Saving  of  the  W^orld  " 

Alfred  Costain,  author  of  "The  Life  of  Dr. 
Arthur  Jacksou  of  Mauchuria,"  quotes  that  saying 
of  the  early  church  father  :  "  The  glory  of  God  is  a 
living  man,  and  the  life  of  man  is  the  vision  of 
God. "  It  was  this  sentence  that  came  to  the  surface 
as  Jackson  strode  away  from  Costain 's  door  in  the 
glow  of  the  autumn  evening,  and  his  friend  saw  him 
no  more  on  earth. 

Arthur  Jackson  would  have  been  the  last  man 
in  the  world  to  acknowledge  himself  a  hero.  All 
his  life  he  had  responded  to  the  call  of  duty  in 
the  daily  round.  One  day  he  was  called  to  perform 
his  duty  uuder  circumstances  of  unusual  interest 
and  danger.  He  played  his  part  as  manfully  in  the 
one  instance  as  in  the  other.  And  when  the  call 
came  to  play  his  part  with  his  life  in  his  hand,  he 
faced  the  challenge  unflinchingly.  Is  there  any- 
thing more  in  being  a  hero  than  that? 

The  goodly  fellowship  of  martyrs  is  enriched  by 
the  life  of  Arthur  Jackson.  He  was  little  known 
when  he  started  from  Scotland  for  distant  ]Man- 
churia,  but  to-day  the  name  of  Jackson  is  a  chal- 

[39] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


leuge  to  college  men  throughout  the  world,  and 
iiiauy  a  medical  student  has  beeu  made  to  think 
more  deeply  of  the  sacredness  of  his  profession  as 
he  pauses  to  consider  the  magnificent  enthusiasm 
of  a  man  like  Jackson  and  the  ready  outpour  of  his 
life  for  others. 

'^  There  must  be  something  in  religion,"  said  one 
of  them,  ''when  a  man  like  Jackson  is  so  unmis- 
takably religious." 

The  largest  asset  of  Arthur  Jackson's  early  life 
was  an  ideal  Christian  home.  His  father,  Eobert 
Jackson,  was  a  merchant  of  Liverpool,  who,  amid  his 
busy  life,  found  time  to  make  his  children  his  boon 
companions.  He  was  an  elder  of  the  church  and 
Sunday-school  superintendent.  He,  with  his  strong 
and  beautiful  wife,  made  the  Sabbath  a  delight  for 
the  children  of  their  home.  Eagerly  did  they  look 
forward  to  the  Bible  stories,  the  songs,  the  special 
picture  books  and  toys,  and  the  long  walks  in  the 
lengthening  shadows  of  summer  afternoons. 

Arthur  and  his  brothers  became  active  members 
in  a  boys'  organization  called  *'The  Knights  of  the 
Cross."  A  winsome  lad  he  was  as,  in  1897,  he  en- 
tered the  Merchant  Tailors'  School  at  Crosby. 
Who  could  help  liking  the  fair-haired  boy  with  the 
radiant  smile  and  friendly  ways?  He  had  a  bent 
toward  the  sciences  and  won  the  Foundation  Prize 
for  mathematics.  But  it  is  in  athletics  that  Cros- 
beians  remember  him  most  vividly.  He  was  their 
leader  on  the  gridiron  and  won  for  them  the  Eugby 
Football  Challenge  Shield  which  they  had  coveted 
for  ten  losing  years.     At  the  end  of  a  stiff  game 

[40] 


ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON 


with  Liverpool  College,  Jacksou  rallied  his  meu  aud 
snatched  victory  out  of  the  grasp,  of  their  stronger 
rivals. 

One  summer  the  Jacksons  were  staying  at  a  hotel 
in  Argyleshire.  News  came  one  afternoon  that  two 
men  were  drowning  in  a  loch  up  in  the  hills  over  a 
mile  distant.  Arthur  outstripped  the  other  res- 
cuers, and,  plunging  into  the  water  clad  in  his  foot- 
ball togs,  fastened  a  rope  around  one  man,  who  was 
still  clinging  to  an  overturned  boat.  Then,  with  the 
aid  of  men  on  the  bank,  who  had  been  helplessly 
looking  on,  he  brought  the  drowning  man  to  shore. 
The  other  man  had  already  succumbed. 

Jackson  won  two  scholarships  at  Crosby  and  en- 
tered Cambridge  in  his  eighteenth  year.  Choosing 
Peterhouse,  one  of  the  smaller  colleges,  he  at  once 
identified  himself  with  the  full  life  of  the  university. 
He  was  able  to  made  a  just  balance  between  his 
studies  and  his  "extra-academic"  activities,  a  very 
difficult  achievement  during  the  first  year  or  two  of 
college  life,  especially  with  students  entering  at  an 
early  age.  He  did  not  allow  "the  side  shows  to 
swallow  up  the  circus."  Winning  "Firsts"  in  his 
yearly  examinations,  he  came  to  his  final  science 
tests  fully  prepared  to  achieve  his  greatest  academic 
honor.  First  in  the  Tripos. 

But  the  big- boned,  hard-muscled  youth  could  not 
long  remain  at  the  university  without  being  called 
upon  to  contribute  to  its  athletic  glory.  He  was 
the  best  oar  in  the  Peterhouse  boat  and  the  college 
magazine  commented  upon  him  thus  :  "  A  tower  of 
strength  and  honest  to  the  core.     Heavy  with  his 

[41] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


hands,  but  races  maguificeutly."  Even  in  his  last 
term,  with  the  Tripos  to  win,  he  kept  his  place  in 
the  crew,  "showing  the  best  example  of  hard  work 
and  racing  with  coolness  and  power." 

Football  was,  however,  more  congenial  to  Jack- 
son. He  soon  rose  to  be  a  captain  in  the  college 
Eugby  and,  according  to  the  college  reporter,  was 
noted  for  being  a  "glutton  for  work."  He  inspired 
the  team  with  enthusiastic  energy  and  set  an  ex- 
ample of  hard  work  and  activity.  "His  low,  hard 
tackling  was  displayed  to  spectacular  advantage." 

As  in  the  wider  circles  of  life  so  in  college  there 
are  men  who  are  social,  athletic,  and  political 
"climbers."  They  go  in  to  win  glory  for  them- 
selves. They  seek  leadership  for  personal  satisfac- 
tion. The  game  is  worth  the  candle  only  as  the 
candle  sheds  its  beams  on  them. 

But  Jackson  was  not  a  "spot-light  man."  His 
modestv  was  in  the  wood,  and  not  a  thin  veneer. 
On  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  China  a  friend 
wished  for  him  a  long  and  busy  career.  "Thank 
you  very  much,"  he  said  simply,  "I  am  eager  to 
serve."  The  main  chance  for  him  was  a  chance  to 
help  others,  especially  the  unfortunate.  Strong  as 
he  was,  suffering  and  need  took  heavy  toll  of  his 
heart.  He  who  asked  not  pity  of  any  man  pos- 
sessed a  soul  flooded  with  pity  for  lost  men.  He 
craved  the  privilege  of  healing  the  world's  open 
sores.  There  was  for  him  but  one  way  and  that  was 
to  bring  in  the  Great  Physician. 

This  was  the  secret  of  Jackson's  absorbing  inter- 
est in  the  religious  life  of  Cambridge.     His  splendid 

[42] 


ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON 


records  ou  the  field  or  in  the  debating  society  were 
ouly  the  physical  and  intellectual  background  for  a 
soul  flaming  with  the  holy  passion  of  sei'vice  under 
the  banner  of  Christ.  "I  can  do  nothing  without 
him."  He  went  into  the  Christian  Union  of  Cam- 
bridge with  an  unaffected  simplicity  of  religious 
fervor  that  brought  him  into  prominence  as  a 
Christian  leader.  In  his  third  year  he  became 
president  of  the  Christian  Union.  Noting  certain 
tendencies  toward  cant  and  sanctimony,  he  set 
himself  the  task  of  making  faith  a  reality  among  his 
fellow  students.  He  abhorred  set  phrases  and  the 
patois  of  religiosity.  His  sane  and  wholesome 
interpretation  of  the  Way,  his  passion  for  truth  at 
any  cost,  his  refusal  to  invade  the  personalities  of 
his  associates,  won  for  him  a  unique  place  in  their 
confidence  and  esteem.  He  respected  the  convic- 
tions of  others,  making  his  own  life  the  final  argu- 
ment for  his  faith.  ''I  like  Jackson,"  said  one, 
"because  he  has  convictions  and  lives  them,  but 
does  not  try  to  ram  them  down  other  fellows' 
throats. " 

Jackson  was  a  wonderful  friend  of  younger  boys. 
He  taught  a  Sunday-school  class  during  his  univer- 
sity days.  From  Scotland  he  wrote  home  :  ''Please 
send  my  Sunday-school  register.  It  has  the  address 
of  a  boy  I  promised  to  send  a  picture  post  card  to. 
I  am  sorry  to  bother  you  so  through  my  forgetful- 
ness.''  He  remembered  the  big  thing,  however — 
being  kind  to  "  the  kiddies." 

Two  years  after  he  left  Cambridge  we  find  him 
at   one   of  the   free  Churcli  camps  for  sclioolboys 

[  1:5  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


during  a  vacation  from  arduous  work  at  the  Eoyal 
lufirmary  where  he  had  become  a  resident  medical 
officer.  It  was  there  that  the  buoyant  qualities  of  the 
'*  eternal  boy  "  were  iu  finest  exercise.  He  threw 
himself  with  gay  abandon  into  the  unconventional 
life  of  the  camp,  and  many  a  lad  learned  to  love  the 
great,  laughing  athlete  not  only  for  his  prowess  as  a 
leader  of  the  sports  and  songs  of  the  field  and  fire- 
side but  also  for  the  talks  he  gave  on  manliness,  the 
clean  life,  and  the  realness  of  religion.  '^I  would 
remember  him  most  often,"  one  wrote,  '^as  the 
jolly  doctor  who  was  equally  at  home  iu  his  comic 
song  and  in  the  tent  meeting  where  he  spoke  for  his 
Lord."  His  biographer  tells  why  boys  liked  him  : 
*'His  gayety  was  genuine,  not  a  smiling  mask  as- 
sumed to  beguile  and  trap  unwary  youth.  He  did 
not  laugh  or  sing  humorous  songs  that  they  might 
count  him  '  a  good  fellow  '  but  because  he  could  not 
help  laughing  and  because  he  enjoyed  a  comic  song. 
And  when  the  talk  turned  on  matters  more  serious, 
on  duty  and  courage  and  trust  in  the  Hero  Saviour, 
he  was  still  the  same,  transparently  honest." 

Never  through  the  years  of  scientific  research  and 
intellectual  inquiry  did  his  faith  falter.  His  in- 
tense eagerness  to  get  beneath  the  aj^pearance  of 
things  to  the  ultimate  realit^^  had  the  effect  of 
strengthening  his  belief  in  the  unseen.  While 
others  were  wrestling  with  intellectual  doubts  and 
suffering  an  eclipse  of  faith,  Arthur  Jackson  was 
making  his  beliefs  issue  in  action.  Eeligiou  was 
for  him  an  experimental  thing.  If  it  would  not 
work    he  would  have  none  of    it.     With   Henry 

[44] 


ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON 


Druinmoud  one  might  say  his  working  motto  was  : 
"  Life  and  religion  are  one  thing  or  neither  is  any- 
thing." 

Prayer  was  to  him  not  so  much  a  means  of  grace 
as  the  deep  and  regular  breathing  of  the  soul.  It 
was  on  his  knees  that  he  wrought  out  his  life 
problems,  and  always  he  was  asking  his  friends  to 
pray  for  him.  He  seemed  hungry  for  larger  views 
of  God's  way  with  the  world.  He  had  no  smug 
satisfaction  with  his  spiritual  attainment  but  was 
ever  reaching  out  for  the  things  that  "eye  hath  not 
seen,  nor  ear  heard."  "I  wish  people  would  not 
talk  so  glibly  about  the  simplicity  of  all  these 
things,  for  I  am  sure  they  are  not  really  so  simple. 
We  will  never  get  to  the  bottom  of  them  here  j  we 
will  always  have  more  to  learn." 

Jackson  liked  to  talk  with  ministers  of  deep 
learning  and  vital  piety.  Among  his  dearest  friends 
he  counted  some  of  the  eminent  men  in  noncon- 
formist pulpits.  Among  them  was  Rev.  G.  A. 
Johnston  Ross,  then  of  the  Cambridge  pulpit,  who 
says,  "He  came  closer  to  me  than  any  student 
during  the  years  of  my  ministry." 

In  1910  Arthur  Jackson  had  completed  his  course 
as  a  medical  missionary,  and  put  himself  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Foreign  Committee  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  England,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 
He  imposed  no  conditions  as  to  the  post  to  which 
he  sliould  be  assigned.  He  was  promised  the  first 
vacancy,  but  as  a  period  of  waiting  was  distasteful 
to  him,  he  offered  himself  to  the  United  Free 
Church  of  Scotland.     "  I  am  just  going  up  to  Ediu- 

[45] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


burgh  to  have  a  shot  at  the  Frees,"  he  said  to  a 
frieud. 

At  that  time  Dr.  Dugald  Christie,  a  veteran  of 
twenty  years  of  honored  service  in  the  Manchu 
cax)ital,  had  returned  to  Scotland  and  was  soliciting 
funds  for  the  extension  of  his  work.  Jackson  met 
hiui,  and  was  fired  with  the  great  opportunity  of- 
fered in  the  chief  city  of  Manchuria.  He  was  given 
a  place  on  the  staff  of  the  medical  college  as  an 
assistant  to  Dr.  Christie,  and  sailed  in  the  latter 
part  of  September  for  Moukden. 

Dr.  Christie,  in  his  book,  '' Thirty  Years  in  the 
Manchu  Capital,"  tells  how  ^Mie  won  the  hearts  of 
all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  We  have  known 
many  new  missionaries,  but  none  who  became  popu- 
lar with  the  Chinese  so  rapidly.  He  seemed  just 
the  man  for  college  work  and  was  looking  forward 
enthusiastically  to  a  life  among  our  Moukden  stu- 
dents in  that  new  college  building  whose  planning 
so  keenly  interested  him." 

During  the  first  few  weeks  Dr.  Jackson  threw 
himself  into  the  study  of  the  difiicult  language  with 
characteristic  energy.  He  broke  the  monotony  of 
his  studies  by  teaching  his  beloved  football  game  to 
the  college  students,  and  found  an  occasional  hour 
for  his  favorite  pastime  of  skating.  But  his  heart 
was  bleeding  as  he  saw  the  victims  of  disease  and 
superstition  going  down  to  death  all  about  him. 
"  I  certainly  feel  the  need  of  a  fuller  life  in  accord 
ance  with  Christ's  ideals.  How  impotent  we  are  in 
the  face  of  all  this  mass  of  contented  heathendom 
unless  we  really  have  power  from  on  high  !     I  know 

[46] 


ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON 


you  are  piayiug  for  me,  and  will  you  thiuk  about 
this  specially,  that  I  may  be  more  tilled  with  the 
Spirit  and  be  so  helped  that  nothing  in  me  may 
prevent  the  Holy  Spirit's  work?"  Surely  the 
fruitage  of  his  rare,  strong  nature  was  being  gar- 
nered for  a  harvest  that  lay  in  ''  the  light  that  never 
was  on  sea  or  land." 

The  black  death  was  bearing  down  upon  them 
out  of  the  north.  Daily  that  terrible  destroyer,  the 
pneumonic  plague,  stalked  nearer.  It  is  the  dead- 
liest of  all  known  diseases,  for  there  has  never  been 
an  authenticated  case  of  recovery.  The  Moukden- 
Peking  Eailway  was  about  to  be  closed,  and  on  the 
morning  of  Saturday,  January  14,  1910,  there  came 
into  Moukden  the  last  special  train  of  coolies.  Dr. 
Jackson  and  his  colleagues  inspected  the  trainload 
and  sent  them  on,  but  two  deaths  occurred  after 
leaving  Moukden  and  the  train  was  sent  back  to 
the  city  Sunday  afternoon.  The  weather  tempera- 
ture was  twenty-five  degrees  below  zero,  and  the 
railroad  authorities  proposed  to  keep  the  shivering 
Chinese  in  the  cars  until  the  next  morning.  Many 
would  certainly  have  perished  of  cold.  But  Dr. 
Jackson  interposed.  ^'We  must  do  our  best  for 
the  poor  beggars, "  he  said.  He  arranged  to  house 
them  under  guard,  in  several  large  but  filthy  Chi- 
nese inns,  overnight,  and  then  began  an  eight-day 
tight,  the  supreme  struggle  of  his  twenty-six  happy 
years. 

It  was  a  heartbreaking  agony,  ending  only  in  de- 
feat as  Jackson  saw  his  helpless  wards  dropping 
dead  by  scores  every  day.     But  he  did  save  Mouk- 

[47] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


den  from  the  ravages  of  this,  the  most  frightful  of 
all  scourges.  Writing  to  his  sister  in  the  midst  of 
it,  he  said  :  "I  am  goiug  to  examine  passengers  on 
the  Chinese  Imperial  Railway  to  try  to  prevent  the 
plague  getting  south.  However,  the  risk  is  not 
great  for  me.  .  .  .  You  need  not  mention  this 
job  I  have  got  to  mother,  as  it  would  make  her  un- 
necessarily anxious." 

Day  after  day,  in  mask,  hood,  and  white  smock, 
breathing  through  an  antiseptic  pad,  he  took  tlie 
temperatures  of  the  plague-stricken  coolies,  sup- 
ported them  on  his  strong  arm  as  they  stumbled 
into  the  hospital,  or  bent  over  the  dying  to  alleviate 
their  last  sufferings. 

For  his  assistants  Dr.  Jackson  was  most  tenderly 
solicitous.  *' Stand  back,  Elder,"  ''Don't  come 
too  near,  Coppin,"  were  his  constant  warnings. 
He  saved  others,  himself  he  could  not  save. 

Od  the  morning  of  January  25,  Jackson  awoke 
with  a  feeling  of  stupor  and  heaviness.  At  seven 
o'clock  that  night,  the  unmistakable  sigu,  the  red 
froth,  appeared  on  his  lips  and  Jackson  called, 
"Look  out,  Young,  the  spit  has  come. "  Within  a 
few  hours  this  splendid  man  who,  only  the  day  be- 
fore, had  remarked  in  high  spirits,  ''Not  many  fel- 
lows get  such  a  chance  as  this,"  passed  as  a  victor 
into  the  great  glory. 

Dr.  Jackson's  nearest  friends  were  unprepared  for 
the  tremendous  impression  made  by  the  death  of 
this  foreign  physician  upon  the  Chinese  officials  of 
the  province  and  the  city.  The  Chinese  papers 
rang  with  praise  of  his  self-sacrificing  work.     Re- 

[48] 


ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON 


gard  this  coinmeut  fioiii  a  non-Cliristiuu  daily, 
'^  llis  death  in  laboriDg  for  our  coin i try  was  actu- 
ally carrying  out  the  Christian  iDriuciple  of  giving 
up  one's  own  life  to  save  the  world."  Another 
paper  paid  this  tribute,  "Now  that  he  has  given 
his  only  life  for  the  lives  of  others,  we  see  that  he 
was  a  true  Christian,  who  has  done  what  Jesus  did 
thousands  of  years  ago." 

Hsi  Liang,  the  viceroy  of  the  province,  arranged 
a  memorial  service  in  Moukden  with  the  British 
consul  general,  and  read  a  remarkable  address,  the 
significance  of  which  can  be  appreciated  only  by 
those  who  understand  the  traditional  antagonism 
entertained  by  the  Chinese  to  foreigners. 

The  following  extracts  will  convey  an  idea : 

"Dr.  Jackson,  moved  by  his  Sovereign's  spirit, 
and  with  the  heart  of  the  Saviour  who  gave  his  life 
to  deliver  the  world,  responded  nobly  when  we 
asked  him  to  help  our  country  in  the  time  of  its 
need.  He  went  forth  to  help  us  in  our  fight  daily, 
where  the  pest  lay  thickest ;  amidst  the  groans  of 
the  dying,  he  struggled  to  cure  the  stricken,  to  find 
medicine  to  stay  the  evil.  AYorn  by  his  efforts,  the 
pestilence  seized  upon  him,  and  took  him  from  us 
long  ere  his  time.  Our  sorrow  is  beyond  all  meas- 
ure ;  our  grief  too  deep  for  words.  .  .  .  The 
Presbyterian  Mission  has  lost  a  recruit  of  great 
promise,  the  Chinese  Government  a  man  who  gave 
his  life  in  his  desire  to  help  them." 

"  O  Spirit  of  Dr.  Jackson,  we  pray  you  intercede 
for  the  twenty  million  people  of  Manchuria,  and 
ask  the  Lord  of  heaven  to  take  away  this  pesti- 

[49] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


leuce,  so  that  we  may  ouce  more  lay  our  heads  in 
X)eace  upon  our  pillows." 

"  In  life  you  were  brave,  uow  you  are  an  exalted 
Spirit.  Noble  Spirit,  who  sacriticed  your  life  for 
us,  help  us  still,  and  look  down  in  kindness  upon 
us  all!" 

Hsi  Liang  sent  the  bereaved  mother  a  letter  of 
sympathy  enclosing  ten  thousand  dollars  (Mexican) 
for  the  use  of  the  family.  This  money  was  returned 
by  Mrs.  Jackson  to  the  medical  college,  to  be  used 
as  a  memorial  for  her  son.  The  viceroy  on  hearing 
this  was  moved  with  deep  emotion.  "What  a 
mother,  and  what  a  son  !"  he  exclaimed.  This 
high  official  added  further  large  sums  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  memorial  portion  of  the  hospital  and 
toward  the  endowment  of  the  Jackson  Memorial 
Chair  of  Medicine  in  the  college. 

In  the  new  hall  has  been  placed  a  tablet  of  beaten 
copper,  with  this  inscription  : 

In  Memory  of 
Arthur  Frame  Jackson, 

B.  A.,  M.  B.,  B.  C,  D.  T.  M. 

Who  came  to  teach  iu  this  College, 

Beheving  that  by  serving  China  he  might  best  serve  God, 

And  who  laid  down  his  life  in  that  service 

On  January  25,  1911,  Aged  26, 

While  striving  to  stay  the  advance  of  pneumonic  plague, 
The  Western  Half  of  This  Building  Is  Erected  by 

Mrs.  Jackson,  His  Mother,  and 
His  Excellency,  Hsi  Liang, 

Viceroy  of  Manchuria. 
[50] 


ARTHUR  FRAME  JACKSON 


A  friend,  writiug  to  Dr.  Jackson's  mother,  gave 
comfort  to  a  wounded  heart  in  these  words : 
"Arthur  is  living!  .  .  .  Your  hopes  for  him 
are  not  to  be  deceived  j  you  have  him  where  you 
would  have  him — serving  God  free.  .  .  .  The 
best  man  I  knew  in  my  seven  years  at  Cambridge 
was  Arthur  Jackson,  and,  now  he  is  gone,  life  leans 
more  toward  the  'i^lenished  Heaven.'  " 


[51] 


V 


Hugh  McAllister  Beaver,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania State  College 

The  Boy  Who  Could  See  the  Master's  Face 


This  is  the  word  that  year  by  year, 
While  in  her  place  the  school  is  set, 
Every  one  of  her  sons  must  hear, 
And  none  that  hears  it  dare  forget. 

This  they  all  with  a  joyful  mind, 

Bear  thro'  life  like  a  torch  in  flame, 

And  falling  fling  to  the  host  behind, 

**  Play  up — play  up — and  play  the  game." 

— Henry  Newholdt, 


Whenever  yon  conversed  with  him  alone,  he  made 
you  feel  that  there  was  a  third  Being  there,  in  whose 
presence  he  distinctly  felt  himself  to  be, 

—F.  a  Shairp. 


V 

HUGH  McAllister  beaver,  of  Penn- 
sylvania STATE  COLLEGE 

The  Boy  Who  Could  See  the  Master'' s  Face 

One  of  the  most  engagiug  ijersoualities  that  ever 
trod  the  campus  of  au  Americau  college  was  Hugh 
McAllister  Beaver.  Intense  and  impulsive  hy  na- 
ture, his  was  a  life  perfectly  controlled  by  the  spirit 
of  God.  ^'  Give  me  a  man  with  a  passion,"  said  a 
college  professor.  "When  that  jjassiou  is  under 
God's  control  he  can  do  more  than  a  thousand  tepid 
souls. '^  Hugh  Beaver  was  one  of  the  most  loved 
boys  in  his  home  town,  his  college,  and  the  wider 
circles  of  life.  Beneath  that  ardent  personality  was 
a  foundation  of  sterling  character  easily  discerned 
by  those  used  to  estimating  values.  In  a  memorial 
service  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  Bellefonte 
spoke  of  young  Beaver  as  * '  our  most  distinguished 
citizen." 

Born  in  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania,  March  20, 1873, 
Hugh  Beaver  began  life  under  favorable  conditions. 
Good  blood  was  in  his  veins.  His  fother,  the 
Honorable  James  A.  Beaver,  was  of  Huguenot  de- 
scent, while  his  mother,  Mary  McAllister  Beaver, 
came  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  Hugh's  great-grand- 
father on  his  mother's  side.  Major  Hugh  McAllister, 
fought  through  the  Indian  wars  and  was  tlie  first 
man  in  Lancaster  County   to   form  a  company  to 

[55] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


reeuforce  General  Washington  in  the  darkest  period 
of  the  American  Ke volution. 

Descending  thus  from  generations  of  fightiug  men 
— the  old  Pennsylvania  stock  of  thoroughgoing  pa- 
triots— Hugh  Beaver  was  endowed  by  nature  with 
liigh  aud  noble  impulses. 

The  atmosphere  of  the  Beaver  home  was  uncom- 
promisingly Christian.  The  Bible  and  the  Shorter 
Catechism  were  honored.  General  Beaver  believed 
in  the  efficacy  of  the  catechism  and  offered  an  air 
gun  to  Hugh  as  an  inducement  to  its  memorizing. 
The  offer  was  immediately  accepted  and  the  one 
hundred  and  seven  questions  and  answers  soon 
mastered. 

As  a  boy  Hugh  was  always  a  ringleader  in  the 
sports  of  the  town,  exhibiting  a  wonderful  spirit  of 
bravery.  He  outdid  his  companions  in  athletic 
sports,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  the  best 
pitcher  of  his  age  in  the  town.  Hugh's  curves  were 
famous  and  his  club  styled  itself,  "  The  Little  Pota- 
toes Hard  to  Peel." 

Hugh's  father  served  through  the  Civil  War  aud 
lost  his  right  leg  in  battle.  Though  peace-loving 
and  kindly,  he  believed  in  developing  the  spirit  of 
patriotism  in  the  hearts  of  American  youth  and  en- 
couraged the  formation  of  the  National  Guard.  In 
1886  General  Beaver  was  elected  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  family  moved  to  Harrisburg. 
Hugh's  Bellefonte  Military  Company,  a  well-drilled 
organization,  still  continued,  and  he  begged  his 
father  to  provide  tents  for  camping  in  the  moun- 
tains.    For  two  years  Hugh  was  the  head  of  the 

[56] 


HUGH  McAllister  beaver 


camp  life  of  his  comptiDy  uutil  the  boys  parted  for 
various  colleges. 

After  going  to  Harrisburg,  Hugh  Beaver  began  a 
course  of  physical  training  in  the  hope  of  increas- 
ing his  strength  which  was  below  the  normal.  He 
was  given  a  full  set  of  gymnastic  apparatus  and 
exercised  conscientiously  until  he  developed  a  fine 
symmetrical  lihysique.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  President  Harrison,  who  had  met  Hugh  in 
camp  with  the  Pennsylvania  National  Guard  at 
Mt.  Gretna,  would  have  appointed  him  to  West 
Point,  and  his  father  wrote  asking  whether  he  de- 
sired to  consider  it.  In  reply  he  wrote  to  his  fa- 
ther, "I  have  no  desire  to  spend  the  greater  part 
of  my  life  in  keeping  Indians  on  their  reservations, 
or  in  loafing  about  Fort  Monroe  or  some  other  swell 
fort.  '■  Both  his  father  and  mother  concurred  in  his 
decision. 

In  the  spring  of  1891  he  completed  his  prepara- 
tion for  college  at  Bellefonte  Academy  where  he  left 
a  record  of  radiant,  happy  activity.  "Such  sunny 
lives  are  rare  and  with  difficulty  to  be  replaced," 
wrote  a  teacher  in  the  academy  later  on. 

At  this  time  Hugh  was  passing  through  a  period 
of  great  temptations.  He  was  accustomed  to  regard 
his  academy  experience  as  critical  and  referred  very 
often  to  it  as  "going  just  to  the  edge."  To  his 
mother's  prayers  he  attributed  many  an  escape  from 
the  perils  besetting  young  men  at  this  age. 

Pennsylvania  State  College,  about  fifteen  miles 
from  Bellefonte,  an  institution  founded  by  Hugh's 
grandfather,  was  the  pride  of  the  Beaver  family. 

[57] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


General  Beaver  was  for  many  years  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  and  at  one  time  acting  president. 
None  of  the  members  of  the  family  ever  thought  of 
going  elsewhere  than  to  State  College.  At  this 
time  Hugh  was  a  professing  Christian  but  not 
deeply  interested  in  Christian  activities.  His  life 
did  not  differ  from  that  of  the  majority  of  students. 
A  letter  from  Eobert  E.  Speer,  a  close  friend  of  the 
family,  was  most  opportune.  It  was  received  a  few 
days  before  Hugh  entered  Slate  College. 

''I  believe,"  said  Mr.  Speer,  ''that  with  the  ma- 
jority of  fellows  the  first  few  months  determine 
their  whole  course  and  often  their  whole  life.  You 
understand,  of  course,  what  I  am  driving  at,  Hugh, 
that  a  fellow  wants  to  be  a  first- class  Christian  from 
the  first  day  to  the  last,  that  he  ought  to  run  up  his 
flag  at  the  first  opportunity,  never  strike  it,  though 
sometimes  he  feels  he  is  flying  the  colors  by  himself. 
I  have  met  plenty  of  college  men  whose  great  regret 
for  their  college  course  was  that  they  had  not  been 
better  Christians.  I  never  met  a  man  who  wished 
he  had  been  a  worse  one.  I  shall  pray  that  God 
will  give  you  a  useful  and  happy  year  and  that  you 
may  be  one  of  his  own  men  all  the  time  you  are  in 
college  and  forever." 

Young  Beaver  entered  the  Beta  Theta  Pi  Fra- 
ternity and  from  the  time  of  his  initiation  resolved 
that  the  chapter  should  have  a  house  of  its  own. 
The  chapter  had  been  chartered  only  six  years  but 
Beaver  was  proud  of  the  society  and  immediately 
began  planning  for  the  construction  of  the  new 
building.     He  su^jervised  all  the  work,  planned  the 

[58] 


HUGH  McAllister  beaver 


financial  campaign,  and  bandied  the  smallest  de- 
tails until  in  1895  a  tine  home  for  the  chapter  wad 
completed. 

One  of  the  great  experiences  of  his  life  was  meet- 
ing Mr.  Moody  during  the  summer  following  his 
sophomore  year,  while  the  evangelist  was  conduct- 
ing meetings  at  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago.  He 
went  to  one  of  Mr.  Moody's  Sunday  meetings  rather 
from  curiosity  and  a  sense  of  duty  but  came  away 
deeply  impressed,  and  w^as  the  more  ready  to  attend 
the  Geneva  Conference  of  college  students  that  sum- 
mer. It  was  here  that  Hugh  Beaver  found  the  new 
life  in  all  its  great  reality.  His  whole  being  seemed 
to  have  been  transformed,  and  thenceforth  was  ra- 
diant with  the  light  of  the  companionship  of  Christ. 
His  junior  year  at  college  was  marked  by  a  deeper 
sense  of  responsibility  and  a  joyous  acceptance  of 
the  new  opportunities  afforded  for  Christian  work. 
It  was  then,  as  a  friend  writes,  that  he  awakened 
to  "  a  new  sense  of  the  deeper  meanings  of  life  with 
a  growing  passion  for  the  souls  of  men."  He  be- 
came more  gentle  and  winsome,  exhibiting  a  poise 
and  peaceful  ness  not  shown  before.  He  seemed  to 
have  heard  the  challenge  of  the  poet : 

"  O  5'oung  mariner, 
Down  to  the  haven, 
Call  your  companions. 
Launch  your  vessel 
And  crowd  your  canvas, 
And.  ere  it  vanishes 
Over  the  margin. 
After  it,  follow  ifc, 
Follow  the  gleam." 

[  --y  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Dr.  Johu  K.  Mott  attended  the  Peunsylvauia  Cou- 
fereuce  of  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion Presidents  at  that  time  and  writes  as  follows : 

"  Largely  as  a  result  of  Hugh's  i)ersonal  influence 
and  efforts  the  large  room  where  the  meeting  was 
held  was  crowded  with  college  men.  The  Spirit  of 
God  worked  mightily  in  the  meeting.  The  interest 
nninifested  was  so  great  that  we  had  a  second  meet- 
ing on  the  night  of  the  same  day.  In  both  of  these 
meetings  I  was  impressed  by  Hugh's  intense  prayer- 
fulness  and  also  by  his  tremendous  earnestness  and 
loving  tact  in  personal  work.  He  forgot  all  for- 
mality, sitting  down  by  the  side  of  classmates,  put- 
ting his  arm  around  them,  and  urging  them  to  take 
a  decided  stand  for  Christ.  Not  less  than  three  men 
were  led,  under  the  influence  of  his  burning  personal 
appeals,  to  decide  for  Christ." 

It  was  Hugh's  great  friend,  John  H.  McCou- 
key,  the  well-known  lay  evangelist,  who  witnessed 
Hugh  Beaver's  complete  surrender  to  God.  He 
tells  of  the  day  when  ''  with  great  joy  we  knelt  to- 
gether while  he  laid  his  life  at  the  feet  of  the  Mas- 
ter. Very  humble,  tender,  and  beautiful  was  his 
low-voiced  prayer  of  committal.  His  will  had 
for  sometime  before  been  trembling  in  the  bal- 
ance. .  .  .  Little  did  he  know  how  brief  was 
the  span  of  earthly  existence  allotted  to  him. 
.  .  .  Had  Hugh  Beaver  failed  to  yield  his  young 
life  to  God's  service,  had  he  postponed  his  decision 
three  or  four  short  years,  it  would  have  been  too 
late." 

In  the  senior  year  at  State  College  Hugh  was  the 

[60] 


HUGH  McAllister  beaver 


same  buoyaut,  radiant  persouality  as  in  earlier 
years,  but  depths  bad  been  opened  up  in  his  nature 
through  which  could  be  seen  a  flaming  soul.  Be- 
fore graduation  a  call  had  come  to  accept  the 
position  as  secretary  of  the  college  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Then  ensued  a  struggle  between  his  pros- 
pects and  intentions  of  entering  a  business  career 
and  a  life  devoted  exclusively  to  Christian  work. 
"  I  am  afraid  if  I  ever  get  into  this  kind  of  work  I 
never  can  get  out,"  he  said.  After  a  period  of  un- 
certainty he  wrote,  "I  have  been  calling  for  hymn 
No.  107  in  about  all  the  meetings  I  have  attended, 
'My  Jesus,  as  thou  wilt,'  and  it  seemed  that  the 
spirit  of  the  hymn  should  be  a  guide  to  me  in  this 
the  first  call  that  has  cost  me  very  much  to  obey." 

President  Atherton,  of  State  College,  writing  of 
this  episode  in  Hugh's  life  says  :  ''  All  his  enthusi- 
asms were  now  becoming  blended  in  one  great  over- 
mastering enthusiasm.  But  with  it  all  was  the  same 
cool,  skillful,  and  practical  judgment  which  he  had 
always  shown  in  the  transaction  of  business. 
There  was  an  utter  absence  of  self-consciousness  or 
conceit,  coupled  with  absolute  confidence  in  his 
power  to  accomplish  his  objects."  After  attending 
the  Northfield  Conference  in  the  summer  of  1895  he 
began  gathering  material  for  his  addresses  among 
the  students  of  the  Pennsylvania  colleges.  In  his 
notebook  of  this  time  were  found  such  sentences  as 
these  :  *'  Take  care  to  whom  you  give  the  night  key 
of  your  heart."  "Do  not  wait  for  a  feeling  of 
power."     ''If   we    can't   pray   we  can't  preach." 

[  <>i  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


''He  wants  the  goats'  hair  too  ;  there  are  mauy  in 
fiue  purple  but,  bless  you,  the  goats'  hairs  are  more 
pleuty."  "Personal  life  of  students  in  college  is 
the  great  cause  of  success  or  failure.  Make  us 
pure." 

During  the  following  winter  Hugh  visited  Blooms- 
burg  Normal  School,  Washington  &  Jefferson  Col- 
lege, Mercersburg  Academy,  Dickiuson  College, 
West  Chester  Normal,  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  his  own  Alma  Mater.  From  the  start  his  work 
was  successful  and  he  grij^ped  students  wherever  he 
went.  The  importance  of  Bible  study  and  prayer 
were  driven  home  on  every  occasion  and  he  began  to 
see  the  need  of  honest  speech  in  the  matter  of  per- 
sonal purity.  He  managed,  however,  to  speak  of 
the  vices  of  students  in  such  a  way  as  to  keep  his 
own  Imagination  and  that  of  others  clean  and  pure. 
About  this  time  he  signed  a  White  Cross  pledge 
and  wore  its  pin.  He  was  constantly  writing  letters 
to  students  he  had  met,  urging  them  to  make  a  strong- 
stand  for  Christ  and  to  build  up  the  spiritual  life  of 
the  school. 

November  16,  1895,  was  another  epochal  day  with 
Hugh  Beaver.  He  tells  in  a  lett/cr  to  his  mother  of 
a  great  yearning  in  his  life  that  had  not  until  then 
been  satisfied.  ''  At  Kutztown,"  he  wrote,  ''  it  be- 
came so  manifest  that  I  slept  poorly.  So,  early  in 
the  morning  I  rose  and  asked  God  what  was  the 
matter,  then  wrote  out  a  deed."  This  deed  of  con- 
secration was  written  on  the  back  of  his  White 
Cross  pledge  and  is  as  follows  : 

''  This  sixteenth  day  of  November,  1895,  I,  Hugh 

[62] 


HUGH  McAllister  beaver 


McA.  Beaver,  do  of  my  owu  free  will,  give  myself, 
all  that  I  am  and  have,  entirely,  unreservedly  and 
unqualifiedly  to  Him,  whom  having  not  seen  I 
love,  on  whom,  though  now  I  see  him  not,  I  believe. 
Bought  with  a  price,  I  give  myself  to  him  who  at 
the  cost  of  his  own  blood  purchased  me.  Now  com- 
mitting myself  to  him  who  is  able  to  guard  me  from 
stumbling  and  to  set  me  before  the  presence  of  his 
glory  without  blemish  in  exceeding  joy,  I  trust  my- 
self to  him,  for  all  things,  to  be  used  as  he  shall  see 
fit,  where  he  shall  see  fit.  Sealed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  filled  with  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  un- 
derstanding, to  him  be  all  glory,  world  without  end. 
Amen." 

In  January  he  visited  Philadelphia,  spending  a 
week  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Haverford 
College,  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  Hahnemann 
Medical  College,  and  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Col- 
lege. "Medical  students,"  he  wrote,  "are  a  hard 
lot  but  the  power  of  God  can  reach  them  as  well  as 
others." 

Once  again  were  presented  to  him  the  splendid 
opportunities  before  him  if  he  would  follow  the 
work  of  his  distinguished  father.  It  was  pointed 
out  also  that  if  he  entered  mercantile  business  his 
remarkable  qualities  would  net  him  large  financial 
returns.  His  answer  to  the  man  who  proposed  it 
was  this,  "  Old  man,  I  am  not  laying  up  my  treasures 
here. ' ' 

In  June  at  the  Northfield  Conference  the  results  of 
the  year  spent  in  the  Pennsylvania  colleges  were  seen 
when   one   hundred  and  twelve  men,  representing 

[63] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


twenty-eight  institutions  in  Pennsylvania,  con- 
stituted tlie  delogaiion  from  the  Keystone  State. 
On  returning  home  Beaver  was  full  of  the  thought  of 
starting  summer  conferences  on  the  Northfield  plan  in 
"  old  Pennsylvania."  The  conferences  now  held  at 
Eaglesmere  and  Pocono  Pines  are  the  fulfillment  of 
Hugh  Beaver's  dream.  In  July  of  that  year  he  had 
charge  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
work  in  the  encampment  of  the  National  Guard  at 
Mt.  Gretna.  He  spoke  every  evening  and  was  ' '  very 
much  moved  to  see  the  hard  old  cases  touched  by 
the  old,  old  story." 

He  was  not  one  of  the  cocksure,  spiritually  con- 
fident kind  but  was  constantly  leaning  on  the  ever- 
lasting arms  for  help.  "  You  know,"  he  wrote  to  a 
friend  that  summer,  "  I  am  very  weak,  very  wicked, 
and  I  am  sure  your  prayers  will  be  answered  some 
day."  Then,  as  though  having  a  premonition  of  the 
shortness  of  his  life,  he  observed,  ''  Perhaps  I  am  not 
going  to  stay  very  long,  that  soon  T  shall  be  like  him 
for  I  '  shall  see  him  as  he  is.'  " 

He  told  how  Mr.  Moody  asked  him  to  go  to  the 
Mt.  Hermon  School  and  teach  the  English  Bible. 
Later  on  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Moody,  ^'  I  earnestly  feel 
that  I  can  make  my  life  count  for  more  for  the 
Master  in  the  field  in  which  I  am  working." 

In  the  fall  of  1896  he  spoke  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  in  Houston  Hall,  saying,  "If  the  big 
guns  are  all  used  up  and  you  think  it  for  the  best  we 
will  trust  God  to  use  even  the  very  weakest  things." 
It  was  said  at  a  time  when  there  were  men  at  the 
university  who  would  go  to  hear  Hugh  speak  who 

[64] 


HUGH  McAllister  beaver 


never  weut  iuside  a  religious  meeting  of  any  otiier 
kind. 

The  following  March  he  went  through  the  Penn- 
sylvania colleges  with  Charles  T.  Studd,  of  Englaud, 
the  noted  Cambridge  athlete.  Studd  became  ill  and 
had  to  relinquish  the  task.  In  a  letter  written  to 
Beaver  afterwards  he  says :  *'  I  can  never  thank  you 
enough  for  all  your  love  and  kindness  to  me.  Let 
us  ask  Him  to  make  us  shine  for  him."  Studd's 
friendship  was  a  great  inspiration  to  the  younger 
man.  After  Beaver's  death  Studd,  writing  from 
England,  said:  "He  was  so  ripe — God  could  not 
spare  him  longer.  He  seemed  to  twine  himself 
around  one's  heart ;  he  was  indeed  to  me  a  brother, 
a  brother  beloved.  .  .  .  How  nice  it  will  be  to 
see  his  beaming  face  at  the  portal  to  welcome  us  in 
by  and  by  !  " 

Hugh  won  the  hearts  of  high-school  boys.  This 
characteristic  outburst  from  one  of  them,  in  a  letter 
written  after  a  convention,  is  worth  quoting:  "If 
I  am  only  a  high-school  boy,  and  if  this  boy  can  be 
of  any  assistance  to  you  when  he  is  through  his  edu- 
cation in  bringing  souls  to  Christ,  I  will  be  at  your 
service.     In  fact  you  are  my  model." 

Again  at  Northfield  in  July,  1897,  Hugh  was  full 
of  overflowing  joyousness  in  Christ.  In  one  of  his 
addresses  at  Northfield  he  said:  "Men,  I  tell  you 
Jesus  Christ  can  and  does  keep  a  fellow  from  sin. 
I  tell  you  he  is  a  real  Saviour."  Mr.  Mott  recalls 
Hugh's  presence  on  Eound  Top,  the  liill  where  the 
conferences  at  Northfield  reach  high-water  mark. 
"I  shall  always  associate  him   with  that  sacred 

[  (i-  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


spot,"  writes  Mr.  Mott.  "I  do  not  recall  a  student 
whom  I  have  met  in  my  ten  years'  work  among  col- 
lege men,  who  exemplified  in  his  personality  more 
completely  the  unselfish,  loyal,  loving,  joyous,  in- 
tense spirit  which  was  associated  with  the  meetings 
on  Eound  Top.'^ 

One  of  his  best  friends  recalls  Hugh's  prayer  life 
and  how  Hugh  insisted  upon  praying  over  the  small 
things  of  life.  He  tells  how  he  prayed  while  tlie 
State  College  football  team  was  playing  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania.  '^It  was  the  only  time  we 
ever  scored  on  the  University  and  I  knew  we 
would,"  he  said  with  a  beaming  face.  When  a 
friend  was  in  training  for  an  athletic  meet  he  would 
say,  "It  will  help  Perce  in  his  Christian  work  if 
he  takes  first  place,  and  we  must  pray  for  him." 
When  the  athlete  had  won  the  long  jump,  Hugh 
slapped  his  friend  on  the  shoulder,  crying,  "Well, 
didn't  I  tell  you  he  would  win*?"  Few  young 
people  have  the  vivid  consciousness  of  Christ  that 
was  Hugh  Beaver's.  "Sometimes,"  he  said,  "my 
prayers  seem  formal  but  at  other  times  Christ  is  so 
real  that  I  open  my  eyes  and  really  expect  to  see 
him,  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  I  shall  some 
day." 

His  last  work  was  at  the  Women's  Conference  at 
Northfield.  At  that  conference  he  was  the  means 
of  bringing  hundreds  of  young  women  into  closer 
touch  with  Christ  and  a  more  zealous  desire  to  en- 
ter his  service.  His  daily  morning  Bible  readings 
were  attended  by  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
girls.     On  Monday,  July  19,  his  last  public  words 

[66] 


HUGH  McAllister  beaver 


ou  earth  were  uttered.  This  farewell  message  is 
considered  to  be  "the  most  loviug  aud  most  fruit- 
ful service  of  his  short  life."  His  closing  woids 
were  : 

"Oh,  may  we  not  make  it  necessary  that  some 
great  cloud  should  come  over  our  lives  before  we 
go  apart  aud  rest  with  Him  a  little  while.  Some 
of  us  are  very  weary  to-night,  physically,  aud  feel 
that  above  all  things  we  need  rest.  Some  may  be 
dissatisfied  with  their  own  lives.  Oh,  come  apart 
and  rest  with  him  a  little  while  alone,  for  never, 
never  can  we  be  transformed  iuto  his  image  by  look- 
ing into  our  own  lives.  You  remember  how  Paul 
j)uts  it,  '  But  we  all  with  unveiled  faces  reflecting 
as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  trans- 
formed into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory.' 
If  we  are  to  be  like  Christ  it  must  be  by  just  coming 
apart  to  rest  with  him.  May  we  learn  that  lesson 
now  and  not  wait  until  the  clouds  have  come  !  In 
the  sunshine  of  his  own  love  let  us  learn  to  keep 
very  close  to  him  !     May  he  help  us  !  " 

The  radiance  of  another  world  was  breaking 
through  and  Hugh's  eyes  looked  afar  toward  the 
plains  of  peace.  Driving  out  one  day  with  a  friend, 
after  his  return  to  Bellefonte,  he  looked  up  and  with 
a  joyous  countenance  said,  "  I  do  not  know  why  it 
is,  whether  because  I  am  tired  and  worn  out  or  not, 
but  sometimes  I  feel  that  it  will  not  be  very  long 
before  I  am  with  my  Master,"  and  then  he  repeated 
the  lines  he  loved  so  well,  beginning  : 

"  It  may  be  in  the  eveuiiifjj  when  the  work  of  the  day  is 
done." 

[ti7] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


A  few  days  later  appendicitis  developed,  a  disease 
which  had  given  its  warnings  but  which  he  had  not 
heeded,  and  on  August  2  Hugh  Beaver  met  the 
King  in  his  beauty. 

At  the  memorial  service  which  was  held  at 
Northfield,  Mr.  Moody  said  that  no  other  visitors 
to  Northfield  had  left  such  deep  impressions  as  had 
Professor  Drummond  and  Hugh  Beaver.  ^'  I  can- 
not understand  it,"  said  this  great  man  of  God, 
''  except  that  the  Lord  had  another  place  of  higher 
service  for  him  and  so  called  him.  May  his  mantle 
fall  on  thousands  ! '' 


[68] 


VI 


Isabella  Marion  Vosburgh,  of  Mount 
Holyoke 

Hoiv  One  Girl  Became  Human  Radium 


Oh  !  yet  a  few  short  years  of  useful  life 

And  all  will  be  complete     .     .     . 

.     .     .     what  we  have  loved 

Others  will  love  and  we  will  teach  thera  how  ; 

Instruct  them  how  the  mind  of  man  becomes 

A  thousand  times  more  beautiful  than  the  earth 

On  which  he  dwells. 

—  Wordmoorth. 


VI 

ISABELLA  MARION  VOSBURGH,  OF 
MOUNT  HOLYOKE 

How  One  Girl  Became  Human  Radium 

Mount  Holyoke  College  embodies  in  a  pecul- 
iar degree  the  ideals  of  oue  woman.  The  dream  of 
Mary  Lyon  was  the  higher  education  of  women  in 
skilled  learning  and  culture  expressed  in  terms  of 
service.  Her  educational  platform  was  this:  *'To 
hoi)e  and  to  desire  and  to  love  and  to  do  as  well  as 
to  think."  That  women  should  be  *'  strong- bodied, 
big-brained,  great- souled,"  was  the  effort  of  her  life. 

Mary  Lyon  did  not  produce  a  somber  religious 
atmosphere  but  an  atmosphere  pulsating  with  joy- 
ousness  and  a  radiant  simplicit^^  The  ascetic  type 
had  no  place  in  her  scheme  of  life.  "God  wants 
you  to  be  happy ;  he  made  you  to  be  happy,"  she 
would  often  say.  She  had  an  intensely  i)ractical 
and  serviceable  kind  of  faith.  "  Eeal  holiness 
tends  to  make  the  character  energetic,"  was  the 
teach iug  often  on  her  lips. 

Had  Mary  Lyon  lived  to  know  Isabella  Vosburgh, 
she  would  have  discovered  in  this  sunny,  clear-eytd, 
quick-minded,  athletic  little  freshman  one  of  the 
truest  exponents  of  her  teachings.  A  love  of  Mary 
Lyon's  ideals  and  purposes  had  been  instilled  into 
the  mind  of  this  young  girl  from  her  earliest  years. 
Mount  Holyoke  was  her  mother's  Alma  Mater. 

[71] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Isabella  Marion  Vosburgh  was  born  at  Kocbester, 
New  York,  October  14,  1888.  She  was  brought  up 
amid  comfort  aud  refiuemeot  aud  granted  every 
opportunity  for  enlargement  of  life.  Her  family 
bestowed  a  wealth  of  affection  upon  the  only 
daughter  and  sister.  The  greatest  asset  of  a  young 
life  is  a  happy  Christian  home  and  Isabella  enjoyed 
this  privilege  to  the  full.  When  in  college  she 
wrote  to  her  mother,  "I  realized  as  I  never  did 
before  what  my  love  for  you  really  is,  and  what  it 
is  to  be  your  daughter."  The  time  came  when  in 
her  choice  of  a  life  work  that  filial  appreciation  was 
to  be  put  to  the  severest  test. 

The  family  moved  to  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  a 
suburb  of  Chicago,  where  Isabella  passed  through 
the  public  schools  and  graduated  with  honor  from 
the  Oak  Park  High  School  in  1906.  She  entered 
Mount  Holyoke  College  in  the  fall  of  that  year  and 
was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1910.  The  following 
year  was  spent  at  Bryn  Mawr  College  where  she 
held  a  graduate  scholarship  in  chemistry.  From 
1911  to  1913  she  was  pursuing  work  in  the  same 
branch  at  the  University  of  Chicago  under  fellow- 
ships won  through  her  brilliant  work.  On  the 
completion  of  her  postgraduate  course  she  took  the 
chair  of  chemistry  in  Lake  Erie  College,  Paines- 
ville,  Ohio,  accepting  a  year  later  a  position  as  in- 
structor in  her  chosen  science  at  Mount  Holj^oke. 
Had  she  lived  until  the  following  June  her  doctor's 
degree  would  have  been  awarded  her.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1914,  she  was  fatally  injured  in  an  automobile 
accident  at  South  Hadley  and  died  in  a  few  hours. 

[72] 


ISABELLA  MARION  VOSBURGH 


When  she  came  home  for  the  holidays  iu  her 
fresh mau  year  she  was  strickeu  with  scarlet  fever 
and  was  kept  out  of  college  for  nine  weeks.  It 
was  a  bitter  disappointment,  "  but,"  writes  her 
mother,  ''a  very  few  little  tears  when  the  doctor 
said  it  was  scarlet  fever  and  a  few  at  the  end  of  six 
weeks  when  a  neighbor,  who  came  down  after  she 
did,  was  allowed  to  go  out,  were  the  only  signs  of 
what  must  have  been  a  tragedy  to  her.  She  went 
back  to  college  and  made  up  her  work ;  in  fact, 
she  kept  up  her  Latin  while  we  were  shut  up  in 
quarantine  by  reading  the  Cicero  while  I  managed 
the  '  pony.'  " 

Her  teachers  and  fellow  students  were  made 
aware  from  the  moment  of  her  entrance  into  col- 
lege of  the  presence  of  a  remarkably  vital  person- 
ality. She  possessed  verve  and  enthusiasm  that 
brought  her  at  once  into  a  position  of  leadership. 
Her  marvelous  buoyancy  of  spirits  carried  her  with 
flying  leap  over  every  obstacle.  With  all  her  in- 
tellectual keenness  she  enjoyed  athletic  sports  and 
went  into  the  games  of  the  "gym"  and  field  with 
greatest  enthusiasm.  As  the  intrepid  little  figure 
in  red  made  basket  after  basket  for  her  team  in  the 
games  the  spectators  would  break  into  admiring  ap- 
plause. "  Izzy  carries  everything  before  her,"  they 
would  cry.  "Her  inability  to  think  defeat "  was 
one  of  her  outstanding  qualities.  Her  dauntless 
courage  inspired  many  a  weary  and  downhearted 
girl  with  fresh  determination  and  her  sunny  faith 
started  many  a  doubter  on  the  life  that  overcomes. 

It  was  not  sheer  strength  of  will  that  won  her 

[73] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


high  distiuctiou.  She  possessed  a  nature  that  fairly 
radiated  life,  love,  and  happiness.  Said  one  of  her 
classmates,  "Isabella  was  always  smiling  and  I 
often  begged  her  to  let  me  know  if  she  was  ever 
blue  and  discouraged  for  she  was  ever  helping 
others  and  never  asking  help  or  comfort  for  her- 
self." Whether  leading  the  "stunts"  in  the  in- 
nocent night  revels  or  working  out  an  abstruse 
formula  in  chemistry,  she  maintained  that  un- 
chilled  ardor  and  spontaneous  joy ousness  that  won 
for  her  the  nickname  of  "  Sunny." 

One  might  fancy  that  this  superb  quality  came 
merely  from  a  natural  lightness  of  temperament. 
But  added  to  her  inheritance  of  disposition  was  an 
underlying  purpose  to  consecrate  her  gift  to  the  joy 
of  the  Lord.  She  cai^italized  her  popularity  by 
giving  it  a  spiritual  content  and  expression.  Miss 
Mary  E.  Ely,  Secretary  of  the  Mount  Holyoke  Col- 
lege Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  writes: 
"The  secret  of  her  genius  for  friendship  was  ever 
the  spiritual  motive  underlying  it  all.  She  put  her 
own  life  constantly  into  the  lives  of  others,  with  this 
main  motive  :  to  make  more  real  to  others  the  Christ 
who  was  supreme  in  her  life." 

Isabella  Vosburgh  carried  into  her  classroom  work 
this  same  abounding  vitality.  When  she  was  in  high 
school  one  of  her  teachers  remarked,  "She  studies 
geometry  just  as  she  plays  basket  ball."  Her  pas- 
sionate eagerness  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  a  subject, 
and  to  see  its  reactions  upon  the  large  life  of  the 
world  gave  her  a  commanding  place  in  the  serious 
side  of  college  life.     She  majored  in  chemistry  to 

[74] 


ISABELLA  MARION  VOSBURGH 


which  she  gave  intense  application.  Miss  Mary  E. 
Holmes  has  written  the  following  :  "  The  beauly  of 
the  laws  of  nature  as  revealed  to  her  in  the  study  of 
science  aroused  in  her  the  ambition  to  become  her- 
self a  first-hand  seeker  for  truth.  In  her  senior 
year  she,  like  many  other  chemists  of  far  greater 
experience,  believed  herself  for  one  brief,  happy 
moment  to  be  the  discoverer  of  a  *  new  element. ' ' ' 

One  of  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  Miss 
Vosburgh  was  her  remarkable  power  of  mental  con- 
centration. Her  mother  used  to  tell  her  that  she 
read  like  Theodore  Eoosevelt,  a  page  at  a  time. 
She  was  able  to  learn  her  lessons  in  a  room  full  of 
conversing  people  and  so  successfully  could  she 
isolate  herself  from  her  surroundings  that  she  would 
not  know  whether  there  was  anyone  in  the  room  or 
not. 

At  the  close  of  her  year  of  teaching  at  Lake 
Erie  College,  Miss  Vosburgh  wrote  to  her  beloved 
"Emma,"  Dr.  Emma  Carr,  Head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Chemistry  at  Mount  Holyoke  College : 
"  You  cannot  realize  what  a  large  part  you  have 
had  in  influencing  me,  personally  because  you  are 
such  a  woudeiful  Emma,  and  chemically  when  you 
made  chemistry  a  living  and  wonderful  science.  I 
shall  never  forget  my  first  comprehension  and  reali- 
zation of  the  periodic  table,  which  connected 
chemistry  with  God  in  my  mind.  Oh,  I  only  hope 
I  can  make  at  least  a  few  people  love  it  as  I  do  !  " 

In  a  letter  to  Isabella's  mother  after  her  daughter's 
death.  Professor  Carr  said  :  "You  know  what  Isa- 
bella meant  to  me  personally,  but  I  wonder  if  you 

[  -  r.  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


realize  at  all  what  she  meaut  to  me  professioually 
and  to  the  departmeut  aud  to  the  college  ever  siuce 
I  had  her  in  sophomore  chemistry  and  realized  the 
eagerness  of  her  interest  in  the  work  itself  aud  her 
enthusiasm  even  then  to  make  it  live  for  other  peo- 
ple. I  have  never  known  anyone  interested  in 
chemistry  who  combined  the  qualities  of  student, 
teacher,  and  woman  as  Isabella  did." 

The  last  year  of  her  student  days  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  was  memorable.  She  had  become 
an  authority  in  her  line  of  scientific  research  and 
was  at  work  upon  her  thesis  for  the  doctorate,  a 
remarkable  contribution  to  chemical  knowledge, 
entitled,  ''The  Beckmau  Rearrangement  of  Tri- 
pheuyl  Methyl  Halogen  Amines."  President  Jad- 
son  wrote  to  the  family,  ' '  Your  daughter  has  won 
an  honorable  place  in  the  University  and  has  a 
bright  future  of  useful  achievement  before  her." 

Three  years  before  this  Isabella  had  passed 
through  the  valley  of  decision  in  the  matter  of  her 
life  work.  The  tragedy  of  the  non- Christian  world 
had  pierced  her  soul  aud  the  poignancy  of  the  call 
to  volunteers  had  struck  home  to  her  heart.  So  it 
was  that  in  her  senior  year  she  faced  the  great  ques- 
tion. Always  she  had  "  felt  it  in  her  bones,"  as  she 
expressed  it,  that  she  would  be  a  missionary.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  between  her  junior  and  senior  years 
she  thought  seriously  of  speaking  to  her  parents 
about  it.  Bat  she  was  almost  afraid  to  broach  the 
question  and  "pondered  it  in  her  heart,"  arriving 
at  length  at  the  decision  alone  with  God.  The 
question  would  not  down,  fight  it  as  she  would. 

[76] 


ISABELLA  MARION  VOSBURGH 


^'  I  have  talked  with  nobody,  have  been  urged  by 
nobody.  God  meant  that  I  should  make  a  definite 
decision  and  only  when  I  let  mj^self  say,  '  If  that  is 
God's  will  then  I  am  willing  to  go,'  did  that  awful 
feeliug  leave  me." 

How  often  have  we  found  it  harder  to  reveal  our 
deepest  longings  and  experiences  to  those  we  love 
than  to  comparative  strangers  !  This  was  true  of 
Isabella  Vosburgh  in  her  crisis  hour.  In  a  letter  to 
her  mother  betray iug  alike  the  eagerness  to  help 
win  a  lost  world  and  tender  consideration  for  the 
family  sacrifice  that  must  ensue  upon  such  a  deci- 
sion, Isabella  poured  out  her  heart.  ''I  just  can't 
tell  you  what  in  the  last  year  Christ  has  come  to 
mean  for  me.  I  only  wish  we  had  discussed  such 
things  a  little  more  for  then  it  would  not  be  so  hard 
to  write  all  this.  I  find  that  Christ  is  the  working 
force  in  my  life,  and  were  it  not  for  his  love  and  for 
the  knowledge  of  him  life  would  not  be  worth  liv- 
ing. What  could  I  do  that  would  make  me  happier 
than  to  go  to  a  foreign  country  where  he  is  unknown 
and  tell  those  people  about  him  ?  I  see  how  every- 
thing   has   been   working   toward   this   end.      My 

friendship   with    Eebecca   N ,  those  wonderful 

ten  days  at  Silver  Bay,  and  various  other  things, 
have  all  been  in  God's  definite  plan  for  me.  If 
only  I  could  make  you  realize  the  happiness  and 
peace  of  mind  that  has  come  to  me  this  last  week, 
it  wonld  be  much  easier  for  you  to  get  my  point  of 
view." 

The  next  letter  home  contained  these  words  :  ''  As 
long  as  you  want  me  and  need  me  I  shall  not  bring 

[77] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


up  the  qiiestiou  again.  Although  I  do  not  promise 
to  give  up  the  idea,  I  do  promise  to  take  uo  defiuite 
step  until  you  are  willing." 

In  the  spriug  of  1913  came  several  offers  of  posi- 
tions. She  accepted  the  chair  at  Lake  Erie  College 
and  threw  herself  with  characteristic  energy  into  the 
life  of  that  institution.  ''  Oh,  I  love  it  all,  the 
teaching,  the  contact  with  the  girls,  the  life,  the  op- 
portunities ! "  It  pleased  her  to  realize  that  her 
position  as  teacher  did  not  prevent  her  mingling  in 
hearty  and  familiar  contact  with  students.  ''It 
certainly  is  a  joy  to  realize  that  the  girls  think  one 
human  and  approachable,  aud  I  love  it  but  it  is 
mighty  hard,  too.  1916  is  all  upset  to-uight  with 
D's  aud  E's  on  term  jDapers  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see 
the  student's  side  aud  be  a  'faculty.'  I  suppose 
there's  a  lot  I've  got  to  learn  about  saving  myself 
and  not  letting  the  girls  bother  me  too  much.  But 
I  want  them  to  and  in  spite  of  the  good  times  I  have 
with  them  they  are  never  the  least  bit  free  or  over- 
step.    They  certainly  are  a  nice  bunch  of  girls." 

The  crowning  missionary  event  of  Isabella's  life 
was  the  Student  Volunteer  Convention  in  Kansas 
City  in  1914.  She,  with  two  student  delegates, 
represented  Lake  Erie  College,  and  the  three  on 
their  return  were  able  to  arouse  a  missionary  inter- 
est the  like  of  which  had  never  been  seen  at  the 
school.  At  chapel  exercises  and  at  other  gatherings 
she  reported  the  convention  and  then  began  a  re- 
markable propaganda  for  missions.  The  work 
spread  to  the  local  church.  "  What  do  you  sup- 
pose?" she  wrote.     "This  coming  Sunday  evening  I 

[78] 


ISABELLA  MARION  VOSBURGH 


occupy  the  pulpit  of  the  Cougregatioual  Church. 
Maybe  I  am  uot  petrified  ! "  Up  to  this  time  there 
had  uot  beeu  a  siugle  voiuuteer  for  missious  iu  the 
college.  Withiu  teu  days  after  her  returu  fiom 
Kausas  City  two  girls  had  voluuteered.  The  move- 
meut  was  spreading  and  she,  the  soul  of  it,  was 
speakiug,  planuiug,  holding  committee  meetings  and 
interviews.  A  campaign  for  recruiting  for  mission 
study  classes  was  begun.  The  young  teacher  de- 
vised a  clever  plan  by  which  each  girl  on  the  Mem- 
bership Committee  of  twelve  appeared  one  morn- 
ing wearing  a  colored  badge  which  bore  the  name 
of  a  month.  The  January  girl  was  to  get  all  her 
days  enrolled,  and  so  with  the  others.  The  scheme 
worked  admirably  in  connection  with  a  great  clock 
poster  reporting  the  progress  of  the  campaign. 
Within  two  weeks  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  college 
was  enrolled. 

Through  this  season  of  high  spiritual  tension  when 
her  name  was  upon  everyone's  lips,  she  was  enjoy- 
ing the  exhilaration  of  unique  and  successful  leader- 
ship. But  there  was  no  trace  of  self-confidence  or 
complacency.  Her  inability  to  solve  all  the  per- 
I)lexing  questions  brought  to  her  was  a  matter  of 
concern.  ^'I  fear  I  have  always  felt  things  and 
taken  them  for  granted.  I  am  trying  to  read  and 
think  more.  My  !  I  certainly  have  it  brought  to 
my  mind  continually  how  worthless  I  am,  for  the 
girls  come  to  talk  with  me  and  I  know  I  do  not  meet 
their  needs." 

The  faculty  of  quick  and  thorough  adjustment, 
the  ability  to  see  and  feel  instinctively  the  point  of 

[79] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


COD  tact,  is  a  gift  of  untold  value.  But  behind  this 
must  be  the  motive  that  seeks  to  awaken  aud  stimu- 
late the  best  in  a  life.  Isabella  Vosburgh  possessed 
both  the  gift  and  the  motive.  Added  to  this  was  a 
wide  circle  of  interests,  broad  outlook  on  life,  sanity 
and  poise  in  judgments,  love  of  nature,  art,  poetry, 
and  music,  abounding  health  of  body  and  vigor  of 
mind,  and,  permeating  all,  the  outstanding  quality 
of  joyousuess.  What  radium  is  in  the  family  of 
metals  she  was  to  those  who  knew  and  loved  her. 
*'So  full  of  life  and  song,''  exclaimed  one  who 
played  on  the  basket  ball  team  with  her.  ^'That 
song  was  never  tuned  to  a  minor  key.  Her  glorious 
nature,  brimming  with  love  for  folks,  passion  for 
the  service  of  Christ,  tenderness  for  the  smallest 
aud  weakest  of  God's  children,  was  never  checked 
in  its  overflow  of  life's  loving  cup.  She  weut  out 
not  at  the  ebb  of  tide  but  at  its  highest  flood.  There 
was  no  *  moaning  of  the  bar.^  " 

With  a  touch  of  mysticism  her  classmates  some- 
how felt  that  she  was  present  at  their  five-year  re- 
union in  June,  1915.  Was  she  not  there?  Cer- 
tainly she  was  in  the  hearts  of  the  girls  as  they 
assembled,  as  smiles  and  tears  mingled  as  they  paid 
tribute  to  her  memory.  ''We  can  spare  Izzy's 
bodily  presence, '^  said  the  class  president,  ''more 
easily  than  most  others  because  her  spirit,  that 
wonderful,  joyful,  imperishable  spirit  of  hers,  lives 
on  so  warmly  in  our  midst.  She  is  not  with  us, 
yet  she  will  always  be  with  us." 

If  this  were  all  of  immortality,  would  it  not  be 
abundantly  worth  while? 

[80] 


VII 

Forbes  Robinson,  of  Cambridge 

Charnpion  of  the  Ave7'age  Man 


Scarce  had  he  need  to  cast  his  pride  or  slough  the  dross  of  earth. 
E'en  as  he  trod  that  day  to  God,  so  walked  he  from  his  birth  — 
In  simpleness  and  gentleness  and  honor  and  clean  mirth. 

So  cup  to  lip  in  fellowship,  they  gave  him  welcome  high, 

And  made  him  place  at  the  banquet  board,   the  Strong  Men 

ranged  thereby, 
Who  had  done  his  work  and  held  his  peace  and  had  no  fear 

to  die. 

Beyond  the  loom  of  the  last  lone  star  through  outer  darkness 

hurled, 
Further  than  rebel  comet  dared  or  hiving  star-swarm  swirled. 
Sits  he  with  such  as  praise  our  God,  for  that  they  served  his 

world. 

—  Kipling. 


VII 

FORBES  ROBINSON,  OF  CAMBRIDGE 

Champion  of  the  A  verage  Man 

"Think  of  the  weak  cliiips,  those  who  are  *out 
of  the  way/  those  who  are  not  naturally  attractive, 
those  who  positively  repel  you.  They  often  most 
need  your  sympathies,  your  prayers."  It  was  this 
thinking  of  the  "weak  chaps"  that  made  Forbes 
Kobinson  a  power  in  Cambridge.  The  following 
quotation  is  from  a  letter  to  a  friend  who  had  told 
him  of  his  intention  to  take  up  school  work  until  he 
was  old  enough  to  become  ordained  : 

"Do  remember,"  he  wrote,  "how  marvelously 
sacred  a  schoolmaster's  work  is.  It  is  not  enough 
to  be  able  to  play  games — how  I  sometimes  wish  I 
could  !  It  is  not  enough  to  be  able  to  teach  Latin 
and  Greek  :  a  schoolmaster  should  be  so  much  more. 
He  represents  the  authority  of  God.  He  could  be 
so  much,  he  may  be  so  little  to  boys.  We  can  never 
enter  a  boy's  life,  into  his  deepest  thoughts,  his 
long,  long  thoughts,  unless  we,  too,  become  little 
children,  unless  we  become  young  and  fresh  and 
simple.  Do  not  become  a  schoolmaster  simply  to 
fill  up  time,  to  have  something  to  do." 

May  these  words  catch  the  eye  of  some  young 
school-teacher  who  has  taken  up  teaching  as  one 

f.83] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


clutches  the  branches  of  a  tree  to  lift  himself  over  a 
wall! 

There  was  little  in  the  life  of  Forbes  Eobiusou  to 
challeuge  the  imagiDation  of  the  average  college 
student.  His  career  was  lacking  in  the  dramatic 
element.  To  the  crowd  that  loves  its  heroes  of  the 
gridiron,  the  mat,  or  the  cinder  track,  this  quiet,  un- 
athletic  figure  would  find  no  place  in  the  pantheon 
of  the  quadrangle. 

But  to  the  glory  of  Cambridge  be  it  said  that 
Forbes  Robinson  came  into  his  own.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  average  institution  of  learning  could 
have  appreciated  such  a  man.  But  one  enjoj-iug 
the  rootage  of  centuries  of  genuine  scholarship  and 
the  finer  things  of  life  was  able  to  bring  to  full 
fruitage  such  a  rare  product  as  this  friend  of  the 
undergraduate. 

Robinson  was  the  son  of  an  Anglican  minister, 
the  eleventh  child  in  a  family  of  thirteen.  He  was 
born  in  Keynsham,  England,  in  November,  1867, 
and  died  in  February,  1904. 

As  a  preparatory-school  boy  Forbes  was  reserved 
and  retiring.  He  appears  to  have  made  little  im- 
pression upon  the  life  at  Rossall  where  he  was  pre- 
pared for  Cambridge.  He  did  show  at  this  time, 
however,  a  remarkable  sense  of  humor  which  saved 
him  from  morbid  tendencies. 

On  entering  upon  his  course  at  Christ's  College  his 
shrinking  disposition  rapidly  gave  way  to  a  quiet, 
intense  desire  to  get  into  close  touch  with  men  who 
were  neglected  by  their  fellows.  His  social  powers 
quickly  developed  until  his  little  attic  room  soon 

[84] 


FORBES  ROBINSON 


became  the  center  for  the  men  of  his  class.  As  he 
settled  into  the  life  of  the  college  he  became  recog- 
nized as  a  sort  of  human  viaduct  spanning  the  chasm 
between  the  lower  and  the  higher  classmen.  Those 
who  believe  that  nothing  is  of  much  value  in  college 
life  except  social  opportunities,  athletic  triumj^hs, 
and  the  prestige  of  a  cultural  course,  might  well 
ponder  this  example  of  a  simple,  devoted  man  whose 
growing  powers  were  almost  wholly  directed  toward 
the  strengthening  of  Christian  influences  in  his  own 
college.  The  deep  and  enduring  impress  left  by 
Forbes  Eobinson  upon  the  life  of  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity is  too  remarkable  a  record  to  be  missed  by 
students  of  our  time. 

The  idea  of  getting  men  together  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  out  the  best  in  them  seems  to  have  been 
the  constant  aim  of  Forbes  Eobinson.  College  men 
are  not  in  the  habit  of  showing  their  most  serious 
side  to  one  another,  but  Eobinson  had  "an  ex- 
haustive power  of  making  friends  with  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men  and  an  insatiable  interest  in  all 
sides  of  college  life." 

One  might  imagine  that  a  man  as  serious-minded 
as  Eobinson  would  be  a  damper  uj^on  the  spontane- 
ous life  of  the  college.  But  Forbes  was  a  great  fun 
lover  and  this  made  it  possible  for  him  to  brighten 
what  would  have  been  a  somber  discussion.  The 
tone  of  conversation  in  his  room  was  never  strained 
or  confined  to  purely  religious  discussion.  It  had, 
however,  a  quality  that  was  absolutely  bare  of  that 
which  was  flippant,  unkind,  or  vulgar. 

"I  can   see  that  little  room  under  the  roof,'^ 

[85] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


writes  a  frieud;  "the  picture  on  the  wall  of  the 
dead  saint  floating  on  the  dark  water ;  the  well- 
filled  bookcase  j  the  table  piled  with  volumes ;  him- 
self flinging  everything  aside  to  greet  one.  It  was 
almost  with  a  feeling  of  awe  that  I  sometimes 
climbed  those  stairs  and  entered  into  his  presence." 

Eobiuson's  interest  in  young  men  was  as  intense 
as  it  was  remarkable.  The  arrogant  indifference  of 
upper  classmen  toward  men  in  the  lower  classes 
was  extremely  distasteful  to  him.  That  which  was 
to  others  a  mere  mass  of  uninteresting  material  was 
to  him  of  the  highest  value.  If  a  man  was  not  good 
at  games  and  very  poor  as  a  scholar,  Forbes  was 
sure  to  seek  him  out  and  make  friends  with  him  ; 
the  man's  lack  constituted  a  challenge.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  great  athlete  was  winning  plaudits, 
Forbes  felt  it  an  opportunity  to  win  a  strong  man 
for  Christ. 

He  was  a  great  student  of  the  Apostle  Paul  and 
he  took  seriously  Paul's  idea  of  ambassadorship  : 
^ '  The  more  I  think  of  what  the  words  seem  to 
mean,  the  more  I  am  startled  at  the  awful  responsi- 
bility we  have  laid  upon  us."  He  liked  the  idea  of 
being  an  attache  of  an  embassy  and  arranging  terms 
with  men  in  order  to  bring  them  into  touch  with 
God.  He  believed  that  he  had,  working  in  him, 
the  same  power  that  Paul  had,  and  that  everyone 
may  succeed  in  so  far  as  he  loves  those  whom  God 
has  committed  to  his  servants.  He  felt  that  the 
man  passed  by  was  the  man  God  honored.  His 
creed  was,  "There  is  no  average  man." 

This  belief  was  the  secret  of  the  amazing  fund  of 

[86] 


FORBES  ROBINSON 


friendship  which  he  built  up  through  the  years  at 
Cambridge;  the  love  he  bestowed  upon  men  inspired 
even  the  most  unpromising  with  the  thought  of  the 
sacred,  wonderful,  and  helpful  possibilities  of  their 
own  lives.  It  is  probable  that  Robinson  was  able 
to  touch  more  men's  lives  in  Cambridge  than  did 
any  other  graduate  of  the  college. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Robinson  was  mak- 
ing a  laboratory  experiment.  This  was  no  philo- 
sophic study  of  friendship  for  a  thesis  :  he  was  not 
exploiting  the  art  of  comradeship  as  the  means  for 
securing  a  degree.  Nor  was  he  cultivating  friends 
for  the  sake  of  social  and  economic  advantage  in 
later  life. 

Prayer  was  to  Robinson  the  most  natural  and 
potent  spiritual  relationship.  He  prayed  for  men 
for  hours  at  a  time.  His  entire  thought  about  cer- 
tain men  was  turned  into  praying.  He  felt  that 
through  prayer  he  could  do  more  for  most  men  than 
by  direct  personal  appeal.  He  was  not  the  kind 
of  man  to  force  himself  into  a  man's  inner  life  ; 
he  declined  to  invade  the  sacred  precincts  of 
personality.  ^'As  I  grow  older,"  Forbes  said,  ''I 
grow  more  diffident,  and  now  often,  when  I  desire 
to  see  the  truth  come  home  to  any  man,  I  say  to 
myself,  *  If  I  have  him  here  he  will  spend  half  an 
hour  with  me.  Instead  I  will  spend  half  an  hour 
in  prayer  for  him.'  "  In  writing  to  a  friend  in  1893 
he  gave  this  advice  ;  "  Now  is  the  time  to  learn,  to 
force  yourself  to  learn,  to  pray — to  pray  not  for  a 
few  minutes  at  a  time,  but  to  pray  for  an  hour  at  a 
time,  to  get  alone  with  yourself,  to  get  alone  with 

[87] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


your  Maker.  We  shall  not  have  to  talk  so  much  to 
others  if  we  pray  more  for  them."  Aud  to  his 
brother,  a  doctor  in  South  Africa,  he  wrote,  ^'I 
cannot  conceive  this  world  without  prayer." 

A  scene  that  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
were  present  was  his  welcome  after  a  long  absence 
and  his  return  to  college,  a  broken  and  dying  man. 
It  was  Sunday  evening  and  the  room  was  crowded. 
Forbes  was  moving  about  among  the  various  groups, 
full  of  brightness  and  cheer,  but  it  was  evident  that 
he  was  suffering  all  the  time. 

Soon  after  that  memorable  Sunday  evening,  Jan- 
uary 17,  1904,  he  rapidly  failed.  His  pain  became 
constant  and  he  was  removed  with  great  difficulty 
to  London.  There,  on  Sunday  morning,  February 
7,  he  passed  away  soon  after  saying  to  his  nurse, 
^'If  I  am  asleep  in  the  morning,  do  not  wake  me." 
Loug  after  the  end  had  come  a  wonderful  smile  still 
lingered  on  his  face. 

The  letters  of  Forbes  Eobiuson  form  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  human  documents  in  things  spirit- 
ual that  have  been  produced  within  a  generation. 
They  have  been  gathered  into  book  form  by  his 
brother  and  the  proceeds  are  being  used  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  boys'  home  in  Cambridge  which  Forbes 
Eobinson  helped  to  start.  No  student  interested  in 
personal  work  for  Christ  and  the  development  of  the 
life  of  the  spirit  ought  to  be  without  this  volume. 

Perhaps  these  words  to  a  friend  may  be  consid- 
ered as  being  addressed  to  every  college  student  in 
all  the  world  : 

*'  I  want  you  to  be  one  of  the  best  men  that  ever 

[88] 


FORBES   ROBINSON 


lived — to  see  God  and  to  reveal  bim  to  men.  This 
is  the  bardeu  of  my  prayers.  My  whole  beiug  goes 
out  iu  j)assionate  entreaty  to  God  that  he  will  give 
me  what  I  ask.  I  am  sure  he  will,  for  the  request 
is  after  his  own  heart.  I  do  not  pray  that  you  may 
^  succeed  in  life '  or  *  get  on '  in  the  world.  I  seldom 
even  pray  that  you  may  love  me  better,  or  that  I 
may  see  you  oftener  in  this  or  aiiy  other  world — 
much  as  I  crave  for  this.  But  I  ask,  I  implore, 
that  Christ  may  be  formed  in  you,  that  you  may  be 
made  not  in  a  likeness  suggested  by  my  imagina- 
tion, but  in  the  image  of  God — that  you  may  realize, 
not  mine,  but  his  ideal,  however  much  that  ideal 
may  bewilder  me,  however  little  I  may  fail  to  recog- 
nize it  when  it  is  created.  I  hate  the  thought  that 
out  of  love  for  me  you  should  accept  my  presenta- 
tion, my  feeble  idea,  of  the  Christ.  I  want  God  to 
reveal  his  Son  in  you  independently  of  me — to  give 
you  a  first-hand  knowledge  of  him  whom  I  am  only 
beginning  to  see.  Sometimes  more  selfish  thoughts 
will  intrude,  but  this  represents  the  main  current 
of  my  prayers  ;  and  if  the  ideal  is  to  be  won  from 
heaven  by  importunity,  by  ceaseless  begging,  I 
think  I  shall  get  it  for  you." 


[89] 


VIII 

William  Whiting  Borden,  of  Yale 
The  Man  with  a  Million  for  the  Kingdom 


Look  forth  and  tell  rae  what  they  do 

On  Life's  broad  field.     Ob,  still  they  fight, 

The  False  forever  with  the  True, 

The  Wrong  forever  w  ith  the  Right. 

And  still  God's  faithful  ones,  as  men 

Who  hold  a  fortress  strong  and  high, 

Cry  out  in  confidence  again, 

And  find  a  comfort  in  the  cry  : 

"  Hammer  away,  ye  hostile  bauds. 

Your  hammers  break,  God's  anvil  stands." 

— Samuel  Valentine  Cole. 


*•  I  am  God's  steward  of  my  life 
My  life  is  lived  a  day  at  a  time 
Therefore  I  am  God's  steward  of  each  day." 


VIII 

WILLIAM  WHITING  BORDEN,  OF  YALE 

The  Man  with  a  Million  for  the  Kingdom 

Eev.  Henry  W.  Frost,  America's  representative 
of  the  China  lulaud  Mission,  once  asked  a  dis- 
tinguished Englishman,  *^Of  all  that  you  have 
seen  in  America  what  has  im^Dressed  you  most?" 
Mr.  Frost  was  expecting  him  to  refer  to  the  monu- 
ments of  American  ingenuity  and  enterprise,  but  he 
received  this  answer  :  "  The  sight  of  William  Borden 
on  his  knees  in  the  Yale  Hope  Mission  of  Kew 
Haven  with  his  arm  around  a  bum." 

On  July  9,  1913,  when  word  was  received  of  the 
death  of  William  Borden,  in  Cairo,  Egyi^t,  a  Yale 
classmate  wrote  to  a  friend  :  '''•  The  unbelievable  has 
a]3parently  happened  and  I  feel  overwhelmed  with 
a  sense  of  the  smalluess  of  life,  but  there  is  one 
thing  I  know  :  If  ever  a  man  was  guided  by  God's 
will  in  his  life,  that  man  was  Bill.  His  life  and  his 
firm  purpose  to  be  a  missionary  have  been  an  in- 
spiration to  me  for  more  than  six  years  and  I  know 
his  influence  will  never  depart  from  me." 

Faced  from  earliest  youth  with  the  temptations 
incident  to  great  wealth,  this  young  man  passed 
through  the  varying  experiences  of  preparatory- 
school,  college,  and  seminary  life  unscathed  by  the 
fires  of  impurity  and  unsullied  by  any  form  of  selfish- 

[  9'i  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Dess.  Early  iu  life  lie  bad  been  impressed  with  the 
saying  of  Mr.  Moody,  '*The  world  has  yet  to  see 
what  God  can  do  with  a  fully  surrendered  man.'' 
It  was  Borden's  desire  to  let  God  have  his  absolute 
way  with  him,  and  not  one  deliberate  act  of  his  from 
the  time  he  arrived  at  years  of  discretion  until  his 
death  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  was  foreign  to  the 
attempt  to  live  the  completely  surrendered  and  vic- 
torious life.  In  1905,  before  entering  Yale,  he 
spent  a  year  in  foreign  travel  with  Eev.  Walter 
0.  Erdman,  of  Korea.  On  his  way  home,  he  stopped 
in  England  and  attended  a  meeting  in  London  ad- 
dressed by  Eev.  E.  A.  Torrey.  He  took  careful 
notes  of  the  speaker's  points  and  at  that  time 
registered  a  determination  to  dedicate  his  life. 
''Much  helped  and  surrendered  all,"  was  the  brief 
entry  in  his  diary. 

Borden  was  born  in  Chicago,  November  1,  1887, 
his  parents  being  the  late  William  B.  and  Mary 
deGarmo  Whiting  Borden.  The  influences  of  boy- 
hood tended  toward  a  rapid  development  of  re- 
ligious convictions  and  habits  of  daily  Bible  study 
and  prayer.  That  the  will  of  God  might  be 
wrought  out  in  daily  living  was  the  constant  ob- 
jective of  his  mother  who  devoted  herself  to  the 
development  of  her  son's  character  as  few  mothers 
have  the  opportunity  or  inclination  to  do. 

The  year  of  foreign  travel  produced  in  the  lad, 
who  had  just  graduated  from  the  Hill  School  of 
Pottstown,  Pennsylvania,  a  passion  to  devote  him- 
self to  Christian  work  in  the  mission  field.  The  re- 
volting rites  of  heathenism,    the  degraded   social 

[94] 


WILLIAM  WHITING  BORDEN 


state,  the  misery,  cruelty,  aud  destitution  following 
in  the  wake  of  heathen  superstition,  roused  the  in- 
nermost impulses  of  his  being,  and  he  decided,  dar- 
ing that  year,  to  devote  his  energies  and  his  wealth 
to  the  missionary  cause.  After  eight  weeks  on  the 
mission  field  he  wrote  to  his  mother  that  he  had 
decided  to  become  a  foreign  missionary.  On  one 
occasion,  when  asked  by  a  quizzical  friend  why  he 
was  wasting  his  life  in  such  a  cause,  he  replied 
with  a  piercing  look,  ^'You  have  never  seen  hea- 
thenism." 

Borden  was  not  of  the  pietistic  type  ;  he  had  none 
of  the  look  of  an  ascetic.  Square-shouldered,  with 
a  rugged  face,  deep-set  eyes,  over-hanging  eye- 
brows, and  a  shock  of  black  hair,  he  was  an  ideal 
exponent  of  muscular  and  virile  Christianity.  He 
was  a  devotee  of  the  pure  and  wholesome  pleasures 
of  life,  fond  of  every  kind  of  healthful  recreation, 
an  enthusiastic  yachtsman  and  mountain  climber. 
Football,  baseball,  tennis,  and  golf,  had  their  at- 
tractions for  him.  When  asked  what  form  of  exer- 
cise he  enjoyed  most,  he  answered,  '^Wrestling." 
There  was  not  the  slightest  tinge  of  cant  or  sancti- 
mony in  his  speech  or  actions.  When  leading  in 
prayer  or  addressing  a  religious  gathering,  he  was 
as  simple  as  a  child  in  his  direct,  forcible,  and  boy- 
ish way.  He  could  be  as  serious  as  anyone  when 
considering  the  great  issues  of  life  but  at  the  same 
time  there  was  an  exuberance  of  spirits,  a  marvelous 
fund  of  joy  that  seemed  to  radiate  from  him.  The 
contagion  of  his  Christian  optimism  was  manifest 
on  all  occasions. 

[95] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


EuteriDg  Yale  University  in  1905,  he  immediately 
took  rank  as  a  scholar  and  athlete.  He  was  a  well- 
known  figure  in  the  college  gymnasium  and  on  the 
athletic  field.  On  the  river  he  rowed  number  four 
in  his  class  crew.  His  scholarship  was  so  high  that 
he  became  president  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society, 
and,  in  addition,  received  other  academic  honors. 

Borden  was  not  one  of  those  who  believed  that  in 
order  to  be  popular  and  ''  a  good  mixer"  he  would 
have  to  forego  deep  interest  in  religion  while  in  col- 
lege. He  immediately  went  into  the  Christian  As- 
sociation and  the  Student  Volunteer  Baud,  throwing 
all  his  energies  into  various  forms  of  definite  Chris- 
tian work  in  which  he  soon  became  an  acknowl- 
edged leader.  For  several  years  he  was  president 
of  the  Connecticut  Valley  Missionary  Union  and 
assisted  by  generous  contributions  of  time  and 
money  in  the  building  up  of  the  great  Yale  Mission 
in  Central  China.  He  devoted  much  of  his  spare 
time  to  the  formation  of  Bible  study  and  mission 
classes  and  prayer  groups. 

Discerning  the  needs  of  a  certain  section  of  New 
Haven  practically  unreached  by  the  churches,  he 
gathered  a  little  prayer  group  in  D wight  Hall  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  up  the  way  for  a  gospel 
mission  for  the  outcast  men  of  the  city.  The  result 
was  the  founding  of  the  Yale  Hope  Mission  which, 
for  a  number  of  years,  has  been  reaching  hundreds 
of  the  "down  and  out,"  and  has  perhaps  done 
more  to  convince  the  men  of  Yale  of  the  value  of 
Christianity  in  individual  regeneration  than  any 
other  influence  outside  the  campus.     The  Yale  Hope 

[96] 


WILLIAM  WHITING  BORDEN 


Mission  is  perhaps  the  greatest  earthly  monument 
to  Bill  Borden's  faith  in  men  and  in  God.  At  the 
memorial  service  held  in  New  Haven,  manj^  re- 
deemed men  from  the  mission  testified  to  Borden's 
wonderful  personal  help  in  bringing  them  to  a 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ. 

During  vacations  Borden  took  sufficient  time  for 
the  recruiting  of  his  physical  powers  but  his  heart 
was  in  the  work  of  saving  men,  and,  on  some  of  the 
hottest  days  in  midsummer,  he  could  be  found 
working  with  the  men  of  the  National  Bible  In- 
stitute, of  New  York  City,  preaching  to  the  throngs 
in  the  city  streets,  and  dealing  personally  with  those 
who  were  thus  reached. 

William  Borden  denied  himself  many  personal 
indulgences  in  order  that  he  might  keep  in  line  with 
the  simplicities  of  the  Christ  life.  He  refused  to  be 
elected  to  positions  in  fraternities,  clubs,  and  class 
organizations,  for  the  sake  of  devoting  himself  more 
largely  to  Christian  work.  With  a  si)lendid  for- 
tune at  his  command  he  never  made  a  show  of  his 
wealth  but  in  a  thousand  quiet  ways  used  his  money 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Kingdom.  He  recognized 
his  stewardship  by  keeping  careful  accounts  of  all 
his  expenditures.  He  lived  on  a  moderate  allow- 
ance in  college  and  his  large  gifts  were  made  pos- 
sible by  his  economy.  A  missionary  in  his  own 
name,  he  consecrated  all  that  he  had  to  God.  He 
did  not  feel  that  if  he  gave  one  tenth  he  had  a  right 
to  use  the  rest  as  he  pleased.  Ten  tenths  were  the 
Lord's  and  he  held  every  cent  as  a  trust.  This  con- 
strained him  to  give  practically  all  his  income  and 

[97] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


sometimes  part  of  his  priucipal.  Ad  extra  dividend 
of  two  thousand  dollars  he  distributed  to  various 
charities,  keeping  nothing  for  himself. 

A  munificent  giver,  he  never  allowed  anyone  to 
feel  that  he  was  conferring  a  favor  upon  the 
recipient.  The  spirit  of  patronage  was  farthest 
from  his  thought.  He  was  a  director  of  a  number 
of  Christian  enterprises  and  sat  on  the  Boards  of 
Management  as  the  youngest  of  the  directors.  He 
joined  in  discussions  freely  but  without  appearance 
of  self-conceit.  What  he  had  to  say  was  thought 
out  carefully  and  his  judgments  were  broad  and 
sane. 

Of  course  it  was  to  be  expected  that  Borden 
would  be  a  leader  in  the  student  activities  of  the 
theological  seminary  which  he  entered  in  the  fall  of 
1909.  Princeton  soon  felt  the  force  of  his  strong 
personality.  His  mother  moved  to  Princeton  and 
opened  a  spacious  home  where  the  most  generous 
hospitality  was  extended  to  the  professors  and 
students  of  the  institution.  The  first  year  of 
Borden's  life  at  Princeton  he  was  made  a  delegate  to 
the  World's  Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh, 
representing  the  China  Inland  Mission.  It  was  in 
Princeton  that  he  entered  into  closer  missionary 
relations,  visiting  schools  and  colleges  and  extend- 
ing his  influence  throughout  the  churches. 

About  this  time  he  became  a  member  of  the 
American  Committee  of  the  Nile  Press  of  Cairo  and 
came  into  contact  with  the  opportunities  of  the  work 
in  Egypt.  After  his  graduation  in  1912  he  was 
engaged  in  evangelistic  work  in  New  York  City, 

[98] 


WILLIAM  WHITING  BORDEN 


preaching  upon  the  streets  and  cloiug  office  work  in 
connection  with  the  National  Bible  Institute.  In 
the  fall  he  was  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry  in 
the  Moody  Church,  Chicago,  where  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, and  for  three  months  thereafter  traveled  as  a 
representative  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement, 

His  deepest  sympathies  went  out  to  those  por- 
tions of  the  non-Christian  world  which  were  prac- 
tically unreached  by  any  of  the  mission  forces. 
He  saw  ten  million  Chinese  Moslems  for  whom  no 
provision  had  been  made  in  the  allotment  of  mis- 
sionary responsibility  among  the  missionary  so- 
cieties. He  therefore  determined  to  apply  for  serv- 
ice under  the  China  Inland  Mission  and  was 
assigned  to  work  in  Kau-su  in  western  China.  In 
December  he  sailed  for  Cairo  in  order  to  perfect 
himself  in  Arabic  and  study  the  Moslem  literature. 
For  three  months  he  wrought  and  studied,  dis- 
tributing thousands  of  tracts  among  the  Moslems 
around  Cairo  and  assisting  with  his  money  in  the 
better  equipment  of  the  Nile  Mission  Press.  Dur- 
ing the  three  months  of  his  stay  in  Cairo  he  per- 
sonally superintended  a  house-to-house  canvass  with 
Christian  literature. 

Suddenly  he  was  attacked  by  spinal  meningitis 
and  died  April  9,  1913.  His  body  was  laid  to  rest 
in  the  American  Mission  Cemetery  at  Cairo. 

Among  the  many  great  bequests  left  under  his 
carefully  drawn  will  was  a  quarter  of  a  million  dol- 
lars to  the  China  Inland  Mission.  This  fund  will 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  brief  but  wonder- 
ful career  but  will  not  make  up  for  the  loss  of  so 

[99] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


vital  a  personality.  The  reinembrauce  of  his  life, 
however,  as  that  of  a  burolDg  and  shiuing  light, 
will  be  an  iuspiration  to  mauy  a  life  and  will  bring 
scores  to  an  espousal  of  the  missionary  cause. 

It  was  not  William  Borden's  money  that  gave  him 
standing.  His  simple  and  consecrated  life,  unspoiled 
by  wealth,  was  a  miracle  in  itself,  and  had  William 
Borden  been  a  poor  boy  God's  way  with  him  would 
have  been  as  wonderful.  The  Church  needs  con- 
secrated money,  but  more  than  this  it  needs  conse- 
crated men  and  women  who  live  the  life  of  Jesus  as 
William  Borden  lived  it. 


[100] 


IX 

Ion  Keith  Falconer,  of  Cambridge 
A  Burning  and  a  Shining  Light 


Christ  has  his  soldiers  now.     Though  years  have  rolled 

Away,  the  warriors  of  the  cross  are  strong 

To  fight  his  battles,  as  the  saints  of  old, 

Against  oppression,  tyranny,  and  wrong. 

And  still  amid  the  conflict,  they  can  trace 

The  Saviour's  influence.     Not  the  Holy  Grail 

Which  once  as  his  remembrance  was  adored, 

But  Christ  himself  is  with  them.     For  a  veil 

Is  lifted  from  their  eyes,  and  face  to  face 

They  meet  the  presence  of  the  risen  Lord. 

—  W.  H.  Leathern. 


Give  thanks  for  heroes  that  have  stirred 
Earth  with  the  wonder  of  a  word. 
But  all  thanksgiving  for  the  breed 
Who  have  bent  destiny  with  deed — 
Souls  of  the  high  heroic  birth, 
Souls  sent  to  poise  the  shaken  earth. 
And  then  called  back  to  God  again 
To  make  heaven  possible  for  men. 

— Edwin  Markham. 


IX 

ION  KEITH  FALCONER,  OF  CAMBRIDGE 
A  Burning  and  a  Shini7ig  Light 

Ion  Keith  Falconer,  ''son  of  a  belted  Earl,"  a 
member  of  the  privileged  class,  with  wealth,  noble 
ancestors,  and  generations  of  culture  behind  him, 
was,  according  to  the  standards  of  the  world,  des- 
tined to  a  life  of  ease  and  luxurious  indolence.  In- 
stead of  yielding,  he  turned  his  back  upon  every- 
thing that  money  and  position  could  purchase  for 
self. 

The  third  son  of  the  Earl  of  Kintore,  he  was  born 
in  Edinburgh,  July  5,  1856.  As  a  boy,  he  was  a 
devotee  of  outdoor  sports.  At  the  age  of  nineteen, 
he  stood  six  feet  three  in  his  stockings  and  was  an 
astonishing  sight  on  one  of  the  old-fashioned  high 
bicycles,  a  monster  wheel  seven  feet  in  diameter. 
At  twenty  years  of  age,  he  was  president  of  the 
London  Bicycle  Club,  winning  against  Oxford  two 
new  world's  amateur  records,  the  two-mile  and  the 
ten-mile  races.  At  twenty-two,  he  was  the  cham- 
pion racer  of  Great  Britain,  defeating  John  Keen, 
the  world's  professional  champion,  in  a  five-mile 
race.  His  greatest  race  was  for  the  amateur  fifty- 
mile  championship,  which  he  won  in  two  hours, 
forty-three  minutes,  and  fifty-eight  and  three-fifth 
seconds,    breaking  all   previous  records  by  seven 

[103] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


minutes.  Probably  the  greatest  feat  ever  pev- 
formed  ou  a  liigh-wlieel  bicycle  was  his  riding 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  from  Cambridge  to 
Bournemouth,  in  one  day. 

In  thirteen  days  he  rode  from  the  northeastern 
peninsula  of  Scotland  to  the  southwestern  point  of 
England.  He  was  the  first  man  to  ride  from  end 
to  end  of  the  island,  and  his  progress  was  marked 
by  a  series  of  little  red  flags  on  a  large  map  in  the 
Harrow  School,  of  which  he  was  a  graduate  and  its 
greatest  hero. 

With  his  splendid  intellect,  his  remarkable  pow- 
ers of  concentration,  and  his  talent  for  hard  plug- 
ging, he  was  able  to  master  anything  to  which  he 
set  his  mind.  One  of  his  hobbies  was  shorthand, 
which  he  learned  while  at  Harrow,  without  the  aid 
of  a  teacher.  For  years  he  kept  up  a  correspond- 
ence with  Isaac  Pitman,  the  inventor  of  one  of 
the  methods  of  stenography.  All  of  these  letters 
were  in  shorthand.  When  twenty-eight  years  of 
age  he  was  asked  to  write  the  article  on  shorthand 
for  the  ^'Encyclopedia  Britannica."  This  article 
is  still  regarded  as  standard. 

To  his  other  accomplishments  he  added  great 
linguistic  achievements.  His  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
was  remarkable.  He  enjoyed  writing  post  cards  to 
his  professor  in  this  language,  translating  ''Lead, 
Kindly  Light,"  as  a  recreation.  At  the  close  of  his 
course,  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  Cambridge 
University  in  Hebrew  was  conferred  upon  him. 
He  was  also  an  authority  on  the  Septuagint,  the 
oldest  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 

[104] 


ION   KEITH  FALCONER 


he  enjoyed  the  exercise  of  cleariug  up  difficult 
points.  "  Seud  me,"  he  wrote  to  a  frieud,  "some 
Septuagint  nuts  to  crack."  While  at  Cambridge 
he  took  uj)  the  study  of  Arabic,  with  no  j)ariicuhir 
objective,  except  that  he  liked  hard  languages. 
After  his  final  examinations  at  Cambridge,  his 
whole  attention  was  turned  to  Arabic  and  he  took  a 
special  course  at  Leipzig  in  order  to  perfect  himself. 

As  a  boy,  Keith  Falconer  felt  the  stirrings  of 
missionary  zeal.  At  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  was 
given  by  his  friend,  Mr.  F.  N.  Charrington,  a  book 
called  "Following  Fully."  In  a  letter  to  his  home 
people  the  boy  said  :  "  It  is  about  a  man  who  works 
among  the  cholera  people  in  London  so  hard  that 
he  at  last  succumbs  and  dies.  But  every  page  is 
full  of  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  I  like  it  ...  I 
must  go  and  do  the  same  soon  :  how,  I  don't  know." 

He  entered  heartily  into  evangelistic  work  while 
yet  in  Cambridge,  and  was  associated  with  Mr. 
Charrington  at  Barnwell  and  Mile  End  Road.  Here 
he  wrought  earnestly,  reaching  hundreds  of  poor 
and  outcast.  It  was  here  that  he  caught  the  vision 
of  world  need.  In  a  letter  dated  June  12,  1881,  he 
wrote  : 

"It  is  overwhelming  to  think  of  the  vastness  of 
the  harvest  field  when  compared  with  the  indolence, 
indifference,  and  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  most 
so-called  Christians,  to  become,  even  in  a  moderate 
degree,  laborers  in  the  same.  I  take  the  rebuke  to 
myself.  ...  To  enjoy  the  blessings  and  happi- 
ness God  gives,  and  never  to  stretch  out  a  helping 
hand  to  the  poor  and  the  wicked,  is  a  most  horrible 

[105] 


HEROES   OF  THE  CAMPUS 


tbiDg.  When  we  come  to  die,  it  will  be  awful  for 
us,  if  we  have  to  look  back  ou  a  life  speot  purely 
on  self,  but,  believe  me,  if  we  are  to  speud  our  life 
otherwise,  we  must  make  up  our  minds  to  be  thought 
'odd'  and  'eccentric'  and  'unsocial,'  and  to  be 
sneered  at  and  avoided.  .  .  .  The  usual  center 
is  self,  the  proper  center  is  God.  If,  therefore,  one 
lives  for  God,  one  is  out  of  center  or  eccentric,  with 
regard  to  the  people  who  do  not." 

It  was  shortly  after  this  that  he  met  General 
(Chinese)  Gordon  who  offered  him  various  posi- 
tions, such  as  that  of  attache  to  Lord  Dufferin,  then 
Minister  to  Turkey,  or  Secretary  of  Legation  at 
St.  Petersburg.  General  Gordon  was  undoubtedly 
testing  the  spirit  of  Falconer,  for  he  added,  "If 
you  will  not,  then  come  to  me  in  Syria  to  the  Her- 
mitage. ' ' 

Keith  Falconer  had  attracted  the  attention  of 
Oriental  scholars  and  was  consequentlj^  in  a  jiosi- 
tion  to  secure  a  post  of  dignity  and  honor  in  the 
intellectual  world.  At  twenty-nine  he  was  elected 
professor  of  Arabic  at  Cambridge,  to  succeed  Eob- 
ertson  Smith.  He  had  spent  a  few  months  in  Egypt 
and  the  lure  of  the  desert  was  in  his  blood.  The 
study  of  Arabic  was  engrossing  his  thought.  He 
wrote,  "I  expect  to  peg  away  at  the  Arabic  dic- 
tionary till  my  last  day." 

His  marriage  to  Miss  Gwendolen  Bevan,  in  March, 
1884,  was  followed  by  a  journey  to  Italy.  The 
Falconers  then  settled  at  Cambridge  where  Keith 
studied  and  lectured  until  the  spring  of  lvS85,  when 
he  definitely  decided  to  apply  for  a  commission  to 

[106] 


ION  KEITH  FALCONER 


the  Foreign  Missiou  Committee  of  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland. 

He  had  been  very  much  imi^ressed  by  a  paper  on 
Arabia  by  General  Haig.  It  was  then  that  his  soul 
flamed  up,  and  in  that  light  he  saw  his  Saviour 
beckoniug  him  to  rise  up  and  go.  He  had  been 
seeking  the  hardest  task  on  earth  and  he  realized 
now  that  the  evangelization  of  the  Moslem  was  the 
most  difficult  work  of  all.  Feeling  that  a  medical 
course  would  be  desirable,  he  entered  with  zeal 
upon  the  study  of  medicine,  and  on  completion  of 
the  course,  went  to  Arabia  on  a  visit  of  investiga- 
tion. 

Within  a  few  mouths  he  and  his  wife  returned  to 
England  with  a  full  report  upon  the  situation.  In 
May,  1886,  he  attended  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  and  delivered  an  ad- 
dress on  Mohammedanism.  It  stirred  the  Assembly 
to  the  depths.  He  asked  for  a  second  missionary,  a 
medical  man,  and  offered  to  pay  his  salary  in  addi- 
tion to  paying  the  expenses  of  himself  and  wife.  He 
also  agreed  to  defray  the  entire  cost  of  the  erection 
of  the  mission  house,  laying  on  the  altar  not  only 
his  wealth  of  learning  but  his  entire  fortune.  He 
addressed  large  gatherings  in  the  cities  of  Scotland, 
arousing  the  greatest  missionary  enthusiasm  by  his 
burning  appeals.  The  following  is  an  illustration 
of  his  direct  approach  to  an  audience  : 

''Perhaps  you  are  content  with  giving  annual 
subscriptions  and  occasional  donations  and  taking 
a  weekly  class?  Why  not  give  yourselves,  money, 
time,  and  all,  to  the  foreign  field  ?    Our  own  couu- 

[  107  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


try  is  bad  enough,  but  comparatively  mauy  must, 
and  do,  remain  to  work  at  home,  while  very  few  are 
in  a  position  to  go  abroad.  Yet  how  vast  is  the 
foreign  mission  field  !  '  The  field  is  the  world. ' 
Ought  you  not  to  consider  seriously  what  your  duty 
is?  The  heathen  are  in  darkness  and  we  are  asleep. 
Perhaps  you  try  to  think  that  you  are  meant  to  re- 
main at  home  and  induce  others  to  go ;  by  sub- 
scribing money,  sitting  on  committees,  speaking  at 
meetings,  and  praying  for  missions,  you  will  be  do- 
ing the  most  you  can  to  spread  the  gospel  abroad. 
Not  so.  By  going  yourself  you  will  produce  a  ten- 
fold more  powerful  effect.  You  can  give  and  pray 
for  missions  wherever  you  are ;  you  can  send  de- 
scriptive letters  to  the  missionary  meetings,  which 
will  be  more  effective  than  secondhand  anecdotes 
gathered  by  you  from  others,  and  you  will  help  the 
committees  finely  by  sending  them  the  results  of 
your  experience.  Then,  in  addition,  you  will  have 
added  your  own  personal  example  and  taken  your 
share  of  the  real  work.  We  have  a  great  and  im- 
posing war  office,  but  a  very  small  army.  You  have 
wealth  snugly  vested  in  the  funds ;  you  are  strong 
and  healthy  ;  you  are  at  liberty  to  live  where  you 
like  and  occupy  yourself  as  you  like.  While  vast 
continents  are  shrouded  in  almost  utter  darkness, 
and  hundreds  of  millions  suffer  the  horrors  of 
heathenism  or  of  Islam,  the  burden  of  proof  lies 
upon  you  to  show  that  the  circumstances  in  which 
God  has  placed  you  were  meant  by  him  to  keep  you 
out  of  the  foreign  mission  field. '^ 

On  November  8  of  that  year.  Ion  Keith  Falconer 

[108] 


ION  KEITH  FALCONER 


aud  his  wife  sailed  with  Dr.  Cowen,  the  surgeon,  on 
the  Austrian  steamship,  ''Berenice."  A  suitable 
site  in  Aden  was  out  of  the  question,  and  it  had 
been  decided  to  put  up  a  mission  house  in  Sheikh 
Othmau,  eight  miles  from  Aden.  It  had  been  Keith 
Falconer's  hope  to  gather  the  large  numbers  of  cast- 
away Somali  children  into  an  industrial  orphanage 
and  bring  them  up  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  teach  them 
to  work  with  their  hands,  and  eventually  to  train  up 
a  staff  of  native  evangelists  and  teachers.  He  was 
also  influenced  in  the  selection  of  this  town  by 
reason  of  its  closer  contact  with  the  Bedouin,  re- 
moved as  it  was  from  the  influence  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian Europeans  living  in  the  larger  city.  The  new 
missionaries  failed  to  secure  a  suitable  dwelling, 
but  they  obtained  a  large  native  hut  which  they 
remodeled  in  the  emergency.  Work  was  begun  on 
the  mission  house,  and  evangelistic  tours  were  made 
into  the  interior. 

On  January  11,  1887,  Keith  Falconer  wrote, 
"  Our  temporary  quarters  are  very  comfortable  and 
the  books  look  very  nice."  Just  a  month  from  that 
time,  Keith  Falconer  staggered  into  the  hut  after  a 
long  horseback  journey  aud  threw  himself  upon  the 
bed.  The  high  fever,  which  continued  for  three 
days,  was  the  first  attack.  Seven  others  followed  in 
quick  succession.  In  May  he  wrote  to  his  mother  : 
"This  rather  miserable  shanty  in  which  we  are 
compelled  to  live  is  largely  the  cause  of  our  fevers. 
We  expect  to  begin  living  in  the  new  house  about 
June  1."  This  letter  did  not  reach  her  until  after 
the  cable  flashed  the  news  that  her  son  was  dead. 

[109] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Od  the  morniug  of  May  11  they  came  to  wake 
him.  "One  glance  told  all.  He  was  lying  on  his 
back  with  his  eyes  half  open.  The  whole  attitude 
and  expression  indicated  a  sudden  and  painless  end, 
as  if  it  had  taken  place  during  sleep,  there  being  no 
indication  whatever  of  his  having  tried  to  move  or 
speak." 

The  work  went  on,  though  the  leader  fell.  A 
school  for  rescued  slaves  was  begun.  More  mis- 
sionaries were  sent  out,  and  the  Keith  Falconer 
Mission  is  a  living  monument  to  his  work. 

Memorial  services  were  held  throughout  Great 
Britain  and  many  calls  for  the  strong  and  brave  to 
take  the  place  of  the  fallen  soldier  were  uttered. 
These  appeals  were  effective.  Eleven  divinity  stu- 
dents of  the  New  College,  Edinburgh,  offered  them- 
selves that  year  for  foreign  mission  work. 

"  The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war, 
A  kingly  crown  to  gain  ; 
His  blood-red  banner  streams  afar ; 
Who  follows  in  his  train  ?  " 


[110] 


Samuel  John  Mills,  of  Williams 
Who  Made  a  Haystack  Famous 


"  My  sword  I  give  to  him  that  shall  succeed  me  in 
my  pilgrimage,  and  my  courage  and  skill  to  him  that 
can  get  it.  My  marks  and  scars  I  carry  with  me  to  be 
a  witness  for  me,  and  I  have  fought  His  battles,  who 
now  will  be  myrewarder. "  ...  So  he  passed  over 
and  all  the  trumpets  sounded  for  him  on  the  other 
side. — Bunyan. 


I  served  in  a  great  cause  : 

I  served  without  heroism,  without  virtue,  and  with  no 
promises  of  success,  with  no  near  destination  of 
treasure  ; 

I  was  on  the  march,  I  contained  that  which  persevered 
me  to  ends  unseen,  no  footsore  night  relaxed  my 
pace  ; 

There  was  only  the  press  of  invisible  hands,  only  gray- 
brown  eyes  of  invitation. 

Only  my  franchised  heart  to  fuel  the  fires  to  suns. 

— Traubel. 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS,  OF  WILLIAMS 

Who  Made  a  Haystack  Famous 

Samuel  John  Mills,  father  of  the  still  more  fii- 
mous  Samuel  Johu  Mills,  Jr.,  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  in  the  class  of  1764.  His  was  a  race  of  miuis- 
ters..  Three  of  his  uucles  were  clergymeu,  two  of  his 
sisters  married  ministers,  and  his  younger  brother, 
Edmund,  followed  in  his  footsteps.  Until  his  death 
in  his  ninetieth  year,  he  was  the  first  and  only  pas- 
tor of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Torringford, 
Connecticut,  and  was  known  throughout  the  coun- 
tryside as  ''Father  Mills. '^  He  was  a  man  of 
gigantic  physical  proportions  and  dignified  bear- 
ing. Throughout  the  State  of  Connecticut  he  was 
known  as  an  eloquent  and  persuasive  preacher. 

To  such  a  father  young  Mills  owed  his  keen  orig- 
inality, analytical  faculty,  administrative  ability, 
power  of  initiative,  breadth  of  spirit,  serious  pur- 
pose, and  dei)th  of  sympathy.  Father  Mills  im- 
planted in  the  heart  of  his  son  those  impulses  which 
soon  bore  remarkable  fruitage.  When  the  son  an- 
nounced to  his  father  his  decision  to  become  a  mis- 
sionary the  latter  asked  in  surprise,  ''Why,  my 
son,  where  did  you  learn  to  be  a  missionary'?"  "I 
learned  it,"  replied  the  boy,  "of  my  father." 

The  psychology  of  young  Mills's  religious  devel- 

[113] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


opment  is  an  interesting  study.  Notliiug  was 
known  in  those  dajs  of  the  natural  methods  of 
Christian  nurture,  and  it  was  supposed  that  every 
life  must  pass  through  a  soul-racking  jjeriod  of  spir- 
itual agony  with  strong  crying  and  conviction  of 
sin.  Mills's  nature  was  sensitive  and  impression- 
able, and  when  in  1798  the  religious  interest  among 
the  young  people  of  Torringford  was  deeply  stirred, 
he  suffered  keenly  in  spirit,  but  was  allowed  to  be- 
lieve that  the  divine  favor  had  passed  him  by. 
While  other  members  of  the  family  were  rejoicing 
in  new-found  peace  poor  Samuel  remained  in  the 
darkness  of  spiritual  anguish. 

It  appears  that  this  mood  passed  away  after  he 
had  taken  charge  of  a  farm  left  him  by  a  relative. 
He  became  one  of  the  master  spirits  in  the  country 
sports  of  the  young  people  and  was  ambitious  and 
light-hearted.  Tradition  asserts  that  at  a  party 
around  a  farmhouse  fireplace  one  evening  a  com- 
pany of  young  people  were  cracking  nuts  and  eat- 
ing apples,  when  some  one  decided  to  tease  Samuel, 
and  suggested  that  the  company  sing, 

"  Hark  from  the  tombs  a  doleful  sound." 

This  threw  young  Mills  into  a  state  of  melancholy 
which  could  not  be  shaken  off.  The  account  of  his 
leaving  home  for  Morris  Academy,  in  the  autumn 
of  1801,  when  he  told  his  mother  that  he  wished  he 
had  never  been  born,  is  familiar  to  students  of  his 
life.  ''I  have  seen  to  the  very  bottom  of  hell,"  he 
assured  her. 

His  heavy-heartedness  again  passed  away  and  he 

[114] 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS 


seems  to  have  had  a  vision  of  the  glory  of  God  and 
realizations  of  his  choice  as  one  of  the  elect.  *'  Oh, 
glorious  Sovereignty,"  he  cried  as  the  light  broke 
upon  his  soul.  Three  mouths  later  he  voiced  the 
belief  that  he  was  saved,  although  he  was  often 
troubled  in  after  life  over  the  imperfect  evidences  of 
his  acceptance.  In  his  nineteenth  year  he  quaintly 
told  his  father  that  he  '^  could  not  conceive  of  any 
course  in  which  to  pass  the  rest  of  his  days  that 
would  prove  so  pleasant  as  to  communicate  the  gos- 
pel of  salvation  to  the  poor  heathen."  One  of  his 
closest  friends  declares  that,  "like  Elisha,  the  Spirit 
of  tlie  Lord  fell  upon  Samuel  Mills  while  he  was  in 
the  field  at  the  plough,"  and  that  if  that  field  could 
be  located  it  would  be  appropriate  to  cut  this  in- 
scription on  one  of  the  rough  bowlders,  "The  Birth- 
place of  American  Foreign  Missions. " 

Not  alone  to  his  father  must  we  look  for  those  in- 
fluences leading  him  to  consecrate  his  life  to  the 
program  of  Christ  for  a  redeemed  world.  He  was 
always  close  to  his  mother  in  all  his  hopes  and 
aspirations,  bringing  her  his  difficulties  and  doubts, 
and  learning  from  her  lips  the  great  missionary 
stories  of  Eliot,  Brainerd,  and  other  heroes  of  the 
cross.  Once  he  overheard  her  say,  "  I  have  conse- 
crated this  child  to  the  service  of  God  as  a  mission- 
ary. "  After  he  announced  his  decision  to  go  to  the 
foreign  field  his  mother  took  his  letter  to  a  friend 
and  with  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks  ex- 
claimed, "  Little  did  I  know  when  I  dedicated  this 
child  to  God  what  it  was  going  to  cost  and  where- 
unto  it  would  end." 

[115] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


CoDtrary  to  precedent  in  the  Mills  family,  Samuel 
entered  Williams  College  rather  than  Yale  the  Alma 
Mater  of  many  of  his  kinsfolk.  Both  colleges  suf- 
fered from  the  destructive  influences  at  work  in  the 
intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  life  of  Europe  and 
America.  The  skepticism  and  moral  bankruptcy 
of  the  French  Kevolution  had  eaten  into  the  life 
of  these  institutions.  Atheistic  clubs  flourished. 
Students  who  became  interested  in  Christianity 
were  ridiculed  and  abused.  Williams  was  at  lowest 
ebb  spiritually.  Mnety-three  men  were  graduated 
in  the  first  six  classes  and  there  had  been  only  seven 
professing  Christians  in  them  all.  In  three  of  the 
classes  not  a  single  Christian  could  be  found. 

But  in  1798  and  1799  God's  Spirit  wrought 
mightily  throughout  New  England  and  revivals 
spread  through  churches  and  colleges.  In  the 
spring  of  1801  four  young  men  who  had  been 
recently  converted  entered  Williams.  They  held 
prayer  meetings  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  deepen 
the  religious  life  of  the  college.  The  spiritual 
awakening  of  1805  and  1806  was  the  result. 

Young  Mills  entered  Williams  as  a  freshman 
in  April,  1806,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three.  His  ap- 
pearance was  not  prepossessing.  His  voice  was 
husky,  his  eye  dull,  and  his  complexion  sallow. 
He  did  not  seem  to  have  that  magnetic  personality 
which  enhances  so  largely  the  possibilities  of 
leadership.  But  he  did  possess  the  dynamic  of  an 
inner  enthusiasm  and  he  threw  himself  with  the  ut- 
most joy  and  fervor  into  the  religious  life  of  the  in- 
stitution.    The  practice  of  religion  in  college  in 

[116] 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS 


those  days  was  a  militant  oue.  A  studeut  must 
ueeds  fight  for  his  faith.  One  of  Mills's  associates, 
Algeruoii  S.  Bailey,  was  so  aggressive  iu  his  efforts 
to  reach  the  unconverted  that  the  students  nearly 
mobbed  him.  Mills's  own  experience  was  uot 
pleasant.  ''I  hope,"  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  under 
date  of  June  25,  1806,  '^  I  shall  have  an  opportunity 
to  deliver  an  address  to  the  throne  of  grace  to-day 
without  molestation. ' ' 

Prayer  meetings  were  the  marked  feature  of  the 
revival  and  were  continued  throughout  the  summer 
of  1806.  On  Wednesday  afternoons  certain  students 
gathered  for  prayer  under  a  clump  of  willow  trees 
south  of  the  West  College.  On  Saturday  afternoons 
these  students  met  in  a  thick  grove  of  maples  iu 
Sloan's  Meadow  north  of  the  college  buildings. 
One  hot  day  in  August  two  sophomores  and  three 
freshmen  met  in  the  maple  grove.  Their  names 
were  Samuel  J.  Mills,  James  Eichards,  Francis  L. 
Bobbins,  Harvey  Loomis,  and  Byram  Green.  For 
a  while  they  held  their  meeting  under  the  maples. 
But  a  storm  threatened  in  the  west  and  they  retired 
amidst  the  flashing  of  the  lightning  to  a  neighbor- 
ing haystack.  Sheltered  thus  from  the  storm  they 
continued  their  devotions  and  the  conversation 
turned  on  the  pitiful  condition  of  the  peoples  of 
Asia,  which  had  been  brought  to  their  attention 
through  the  regular  course  in  geography.  The  East 
India  Company  had  been  opening  up  this  continent 
and  much  had  been  read  in  letters  and  in  the  public 
prints  concerning  the  frightful  degradation,  poverty, 
and  suffering  in   these  lands  of  darkness.     Then 

[117] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


came  the  great  moment,  the  luminous  hour  from 
which  has  radiated  such  powerful  influences  into 
ev^ery  corner  of  the  world. 

A  mission  band  of  boys  was  once  questioned  as  to 
their  knowledge  of  Samuel  J.  Mills.  The  leader 
asked,  "Where  was  he  born?"  "Under  a  hay- 
stack," replied  the  boy.  Some  one  has  pertinently 
remarked  that  it  was  not  Mills  but  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  that  was  born  under  that 
haystack.  But  a  greater  enterprise  than  any  one 
mission  board  came  into  being  that  rainy  afternoon 
— the  whole  enterprise  of  American  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, the  real  beginning  of  vital  American  Chris- 
tianity. 

There  was  one  "conscientious  objector"  in  that 
company.  Mills  proposed  sending  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen  and  as  he  waxed  enthusiastic  he  said, 
"We  can  do  it  if  we  will."  One  of  the  sophomores 
declared  that  the  time  was  not  ripe,  that  the  mis- 
sionaries would  be  murdered,  that  a  new  crusade 
must  be  inaugurated  before  the  gospel  could  be  sent 
to  such  miserable  creatures  as  Turks  and  Arabs. 
Then  Mills  asked  that  they  might  all  kneel  in 
prayer,  and,  one  by  one,  the  young  Christians  of- 
fered up  fervent  appeals  to  God  for  the  non-Chris- 
tian world.  Mills  cried,  "Oh,  God,  strike  down 
the  arm  with  the  red  artillery  of  heaven  that  shall 
be  raised  against  the  herald  of  the  cross  ! " 

These  outdoor  prayer  meetings  were  kept  up  un- 
til the  cold  weather  when  an  old  lady  invited  the 
boys  to  come  to  her  kitchen  for  their  gatherings. 
With  the  same  zest  that  college  students  to  day  dis- 

[118] 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS 


CUSS  wiuuing  teiims  Mills  imd  his  colleagues  were 
coustautly  couferriug  on  the  question  of  taking  the 
gospel  to  foreign  lauds. 

Mills's  devotion  to  religious  work  was  so  keen 
that  his  scholarship  suffered,  and  he  was  deeply  dis- 
ai^poioted  when  in  1809  he  failed  to  receive  an 
assignment  for  graduation.  The  conscientious  ob- 
jector to  missions  delivered  an  oration  on  "The 
Disadvantages  of  Continuing  Too  Long  on  the 
Stage,"  while  poor  Mills  passed  from  the  room  and 
was  heard  to  say  in  a  low  voice,  "Well,  if  God  be 
for  me  it  makes  no  matter  who  is  against  me." 

The  "Society  of  Brethren,"  organized  in  the 
northwest  room  of  the  lower  story  of  "Old  East," 
is  too  well  known  to  require  details  in  this  brief 
sketch.  Its  object,  according  to  its  constitution,  was 
"to  effect  in  the  persons  of  its  members  a  mission 
or  missions  to  the  heathen,"  and  each  member  was 
expected  to  "hold  himself  in  readiness  to  go  on  a 
mission  when  and  where  duty  may  call."  The 
"Brethren"  entered  zealously  into  plans  for  arous- 
ing missionary  interest.  They  published  mission- 
ary sermons,  they  visited  ministers,  sought  their 
cooperation,  and,  through  public  addresses  and  pri- 
vate conversations,  endeavored  to  develop  a  sense 
of  responsibility.  Mills  was  especially  successful  in 
enlisting  men  of  commanding  influence.  Other  col- 
leges were  visited  and  societies  similar  to  the  Society 
of  Brethren  were  formed.  Efforts  were  made  to  in- 
terest Dartmouth  and  Union  colleges  but  without 
success.  During  his  junior  year  Mills  made  a  trip 
to  Yale  and  there  formed  a  close  friendship  with 

[119] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Asaliel  Neltleton,  who  afterwards  became  the  great 
evaugelist. 

The  movement  started  by  Mills  and  his  friends  at 
the  haystack  was  an  enterprise  of  promotion.  It 
was  not  organized  to  send  missionaries  but  to  arouse 
among  ministers,  churches,  and  Christians  generally, 
a  missionar^^  interest.  It  was  a  project  started  first 
of  all  by  college  men  rather  than  by  those  Christian 
leaders  in  the  churches  who  would  naturally  be 
supposed  to  begin  such  a  work.  President  Mark 
Hopkins  wrote  :"  That  such  a  movement  should 
have  originated  with  the  undergraduates  of  a  college 
at  a  time  when  there  was  so  much  in  the  state  of  the 
world  to  excite  the  youthful  imagination  and  fire 
ambition  and  distract  the  mind,  when  Eurox^e  was 
quaking  under  the  tread  of  the  man  of  destiny,  and 
this  country  was  fearfully  excited  by  political  divi- 
sions, can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  special 
agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 

After  graduation  Mills  went  to  Yale  for  a  time, 
earnestly  desirous  that  the  "  divine  ferment "  should 
permeate  the  college  which,  next  to  his  own,  was 
dearest  to  his  heart.  He  was  unsuccessful  in  kin- 
dling an  enthusiasm  but  his  meeting  with  the  Ha- 
waiian waif.  Obookiah,  was  dramatic  and  provi- 
dential. This  poor  foreigner  was  without  a  place 
to  eat  or  sleep.  He  had  drifted  across  the  water  in 
a  sailing  vessel  and  was  sitting  on  the  threshold  of 
one  of  the  college  buildings  weeping  because  "no- 
body gave  him  learning."  Mills  met  him  and  took 
him  to  his  own  home  where  his  mother  treated  the 
stranger  as  her  own  child  and  taught  him  the  Cate- 

C  120  ] 


SAMUEL  JOHN   MILLS 


cliism.  It  was  through  Obookiah's  love  for  his 
hoiuelaud  and  his  desire  that  it  should  be  evangel- 
ized that  the  missionaries,  Bingham  and  Thurston, 
were  sent  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the  way  was 
wonderfully  opened  for  them  to  bring  the  gospel  to 
the  islanders.  As  Mills's  biographer,  T.  C.  Kich- 
ards,  says,  ''The  cry  of  the  Hawaiian  waif  at  the 
door  of  Yale  College  had  been  answered." 

It  was  Samuel  J.  Mills  who  made  possible  the 
answering  of  that  cry.  Mr.  Richards  traces  the  line 
of  spiritual  descent  from  Mills  to  Booker  T.  Wash- 
ington in  this  way:  "  Through  his  protege,  Oboo- 
kiah.  Mills  set  in  motion  the  forces  resulting  in  the 
mission  to  the  Sandwich  Islands.  One  of  the  mis- 
sionaries sent  there  was  the  father  of  Samuel  C. 
Armstrong,  the  founder  of  Hampton  Institute,  and 
Booker  Washington  was  'the  most  remarkable 
product  of  Hampton.'  "  Thus  Tuskeegee  Institute, 
the  monument  to  Booker  Washington's  efforts  for 
the  uplift  of  the  negro,  runs  lines  far  back  in  history 
to  the  haystack  of  Williams  College.  "What  hath 
God  wrought !" 

In  1813  Mills  had  graduated  from  Audover  Semi- 
nary and  was  engaged,  with  John  F.  Schermerhorn, 
in  a  long  and  difficult  journey  through  the  South- 
west in  the  interests  of  the  missionary  societies  of 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  In  the  Connecticut 
Evangelical  Magazine  of  July,  1813,  is  found  an  in- 
teresting letter  from  ]\Iills,  telling  of  his  missionary 
labors  in  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Tennessee, 
Louisiana,  and  South  Carolina,  also  a  paragraph  from 
a  Charleston  paper  dated  June  3,  1813,  in  which  is 

[121] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


this  statement:  "Since  leaving  New  Orleaus  Mr. 
Mills  has  suffered  much  hardship  and  fatigue.  On 
account  of  disturbances  near  the  coast  he  was  obliged 
to  take  a  circuit  of  nearly  three  hundred  miles 
through  the  wilderness,  exposed  to  numerous  dan- 
gers and  severe  privations.  He  is  now  on  his  return 
to  New  England  with  much  interesting  information 
for  the  missionary  societies  and  much  experience 
of  the  divine  goodness.  During  his  tour  Mr.  Mills 
has  distributed  seven  hundred  Bibles  among  the 
destitute." 

After  a  year's  absence  in  which  he  traveled  nearly 
three  thousand  miles  and  endured  unnumbered 
hardships,  Mr.  Mills  reached  his  home  in  Torriug- 
ford.  The  following  year  New  England  listened  to 
his  impassioned  appeals  that  the  great  lands  of  the 
West  and  the  Southwest  might  be  possessed  for 
Christ.  After  a  second  home  missionary  journey  he 
issued  a  fifty -page  booklet  entitled,  "A  Correct  View 
of  That  Part  of  the  United  States  Which  Lies  West  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  with  Respect  to  Eeligion 
and  Morals."  It  was  a  revelation  to  the  East  of 
the  needs  and  opportunities  of  a  practically  un- 
known territory.  He  and  his  colleague  went 
through  the  East  delivering  addresses  and  sound- 
ing a  bugle  call  to  home  missionary  effort.  The 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
thereui)on  organized  the  Board  of  Home  Missions 
in  1816.  It  was  Mills  and  his  companions  who 
sowed  the  seed  of  home  missions,  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  churches  and  the  missionary  societies  to 
the  magnificent  opportunities  before  them.     "The 

[122] 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS 


Protestant  invasiou  and  occupation  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  was  largely  due  to  Samuel  J.  Mills.  He 
therefore  deserves  the  title  '  Home  Missionary  States- 
man.' '' 

At  the  end  of  his  second  home  missionary  journey 
he  announced  that  the  immediate  need  of  the  new 
country  was  seventy-six  thousand  Bibles,  persuaded 
friends  to  write  essays  upon  the  need  of  furnishing 
Bibles  to  destitute  communities,  and  as  the  result  the 
smaller  Bible  societies  of  the  East  met  in  New  York 
City  on  May  8,  1816,  and  organized  The  American 
Bible  Society.  Historians  are  now  agreed  that  the 
influence  of  Samuel  J.  Mills  was  foremost  in  bring- 
ing about  the  organization  of  this  national  society. 

Think  of  this  young  man,  only  thirty-three  years  of 
age,  becoming  a  national  figure  in  the  Christian  life 
of  America  !  According  to  Lyman  Beecher  it  was 
Mills's  ^'profound  wisdom,  indefatigable  industrj^, 
and  unparalleled  executive  power  that  made  him 
the  primary  agent  in  this  movement." 

In  June,  1815,  Mills  and  five  other  candidates 
were  ordained  at  Newburyport.  The  sermon  was 
preached  by  Dr.  Samuel  Worcester,  of  Salem.  At 
the  close  of  the  fervent  missionary  appeal  entitled 
'^  Paul  on  Mars  Hill,  Or,  A  Christian  Survey  of  the 
Pagan  World,"  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered 
and  the  six  young  missionaries  were  given  the  bene- 
dictions of  God's  people. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  October  all  except  Mills 
sailed  for  Ceylon.  For  two  years  he  was  traveling 
through  the  cities  of  the  East  conferi'ing  with  prom- 
inent men  concerning  his  missionary  projects.     For 

[  123  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


some  time  Mills  was  the  guest  of  Dr.  E.  D.  Griffen, 
former  president  of  Bowdoin,  who  was  then  living 
at  Newark,  New  Jersey.  Dr.  Griffen  declared 
afterwards  ;  ^^  I  have  been  in  positions  to  know 
that  from  the  councils  formed  in  that  secret  con- 
clave (referring  to  Mills  and  his  associates  at  Will- 
iams), or  from  the  mind  of  Mills  himself,  arose 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  The  American  Bible  Society,  the  United 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  The  African  School 
under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  besides 
all  the  impetus  given  to  domestic  missions  and  the 
Colonization  Society  and  to  the  general  cause  of 
benevolence  in  both  hemispheres." 

Mills  was  incessantly  at  work  stimulating  activity 
along  various  lines,  suggesting  to  men  who  were 
making  history,  the  fertile,  germinal  thoughts  that 
were  to  blossom  in  future  ages  and  in  distant  lands. 
He  made  what  in  our  day  would  be  called  a  survey 
of  conditions  in  New  York  City,  calling  from  house 
to  house.  Of  fifty  families  whom  he  visited  one  day 
in  Orange  Street,  not  one  third  were  able  to  read  a 
Bible  if  they  had  one.  He  told  of  how  a  married 
woman  of  thirty,  on  being  asked  whether  she  had 
a  Bible  in  the  house,  exclaimed  in  surprise:  "A 
Bible  !  What  do  you  do  with  a  Bible  ?  "  And  tliis 
was  in  the  heart  of  New  York  in  1816  ! 

The  needs  of  sailors  touched  his  heart,  and  he 
consulted  with  men  who  in  the  following  year  or- 
ganized a  Marine  Bible  Society. 

About  this  time  a  plan  for  a  mission  to  South 
America  developed  in  his  mind.     He  felt  that  the 

[124] 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS 


Presbyterian  Church  was  not  doing  her  share  in 
foreign  missions.  She  had  no  Foreign  Mission 
Board  of  her  own  and  he  was  determined  that  this 
Cliurch  with  her  great  resources  should  be  set  at 
work  for  foreign  missions.  In  Philadelphia  the 
General  Assembly  of  1818  was  addressed  by  Mills 
and  approved  the  plan  of  forming  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary society.  Writing  home  to  his  father  con- 
cerning this  good  news  Mills  said,  with  character- 
istic modesty  :  "  I  would  not  intimate  that  I  have 
been  the  prime  mover  in  this  business.  If  I  have 
been  permitted  with  others  to  aid  the  object,  it  is 
enough." 

The  busy  brain  and  heart  of  this  man  soon  be- 
came interested  in  the  condition  of  the  slaves  of 
the  South.  He  interested  himself  in  the  formation 
of  the  Colonization  Society,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  send  negroes  from  America  to  Africa  for  the 
purpose  of  ameliorating  their  condition.  Writing 
to  his  father  he  said,  "I  never  engaged  in  an  ob- 
ject which  had  laid  me  under  so  vast  a  responsi- 
bility." Money  was  borrowed  through  generous 
friends  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  expedition,  and 
Mills,  with  his  colleague,  Ebenezer  Burgess,  pre- 
pared to  visit  England  for  information  and  assist- 
ance, and  go  from  there  to  Africa.  In  crossing  they 
encountered  a  severe  storm  in  the  English  Channel 
which  nearly  wrecked  the  vessel.  The  captain  had 
given  up  all  for  lost.  A  boat  was  launched  which 
was  quickly  overturned,  and  death  for  all  seemed 
inevitable.  Burgess  and  Mills  stood  calm  and  col- 
lected while  the  ship's  company  crowded  around 

[125] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


them  for  a  prayer  service.  Suddeuly  a  stroDg  cur- 
rent caught  their  ship,  carried  it  over  the  reef  into 
deep  water,  and  to  safety. 

After  meeting  certain  persons  in  England  who 
lent  them  every  assistance,  the  missionaries  pro- 
ceeded to  Africa  and  entered  into  many  ''  palavers  " 
with  native  kings  and  princes.  Mills's  fiery  spirit 
was  compelled  to  exercise  great  control,  and  he 
wrote,  ''  Patience  may  almost  have  her  perfect  work 
on  the  dispositions  and  hearts  of  those  who  wait  on 
men  so  slothful  in  business."  Weeks  passed  and  he 
then  embarked  for  the  United  States  by  way  of 
England  leaving  the  fever-laden  air  of  the  west  coast 
rivers  for  latitudes  more  stimulating.  But  the  seeds 
of  death  had  already  been  sown  in  the  constitution 
of  this  missionary  hero  and  tuberculosis  suddenly 
declared  itself.  The  disease  developed  rapidly  and 
his  fellow  voyagers  realized  with  a  shock  that  his 
end  was  approaching. 

Before  the  voyage  was  half  finished  on  June  15, 
1818,  without  sigh  or  moan,  he  calmly  folded  his 
hands  as  if  in  prayer  and  entered  into  the  *'rest 
that  remains  for  the  people  of  God.'' 

:^  ^  ^  :^  ^  :^ 

It  is  thirty- nine  years  later.  A  great  throng  is 
standing  in  the  maple  grove  near  the  site  of  the 
old  haystack.  A  ten-acre  plot  has  been  purchased, 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  founders  of  Amer- 
ican missions,  and  named  '' Mission  Park."  On 
commencement  day,  as  the  rising  sun  mounts  above 
the  encircling  hills,  gilding  the  leaves  of  the  maples 
in  the  valley  of  the  Hoosac,  the  first  of  the  annual 

[  126  ] 


SAMUEL  JOHN  MILLS 


missionary  services  is  held  on  that  sacred  spot. 
This  sunrise  meeting  is  still  a  feature  of  the  com- 
mencements at  Williams  College. 

To  that  hallowed  ground  also  came  student  vis- 
itors from  every  country  of  the  globe.  In  1897  the 
World's  Christian  Student  Federation  held  its 
second  annual  meeting  around  the  granite  shaft 
which  now  commemorates  the  haystack  prayer 
meeting.  Thirteen  nations  and  five  continents 
were  represented.  After  the  story  of  the  first  meet- 
ing had  been  graphically  recited  these  men  of  many 
nationalities  made  the  mountains  ring  with  their 
shouts  of  '^  We  can  do  it  if  we  will  ! "  Germans 
and  French,  Hollanders  and  Swiss,  Chinese  and 
Japanese,  forgot  their  differences,  and  each  in  his 
native  tongue  sang  out  that  militant  sentiment, 
*'  We  can  do  it  if  we  will  !  " 

Though  his  body  lies  in  an  unmarked  grave 
within  the  depths  of  the  restless  sea,  the  soul  of 
Mills  is  living  on  in  the  work  to  which  he  had 
dedicated  his  life.  We,  who  are  called  to  continue 
that  work,  can  hear  him  say,  *' Though  you  and  I 
are  very  little  beings,  we  must  not  rest  satisfied 
until  our  influence  is  felt  in  the  remotest  corner  of 
this  ruined  world." 


[  127  J 


XI 

Elijah  Kellogg,  of  Bowdoin 
The  College  Man  Who  Was  a  Boy  at  Eighty 


There  is  do  age  :  the  swiftly  passing  hour 
That  measures  out  our  days  of  pilgrimage 
Aud  breaks  the  heart  of  every  summer  flower, 
Shall  fiud  again  the  child's  soul  in  the  sage. 

There  is  no  age,  for  youth  is  the  divine  ; 
And  the  white  radiance  of  the  timeless  soul 
Bums  like  a  silver  lamp  in  that  dark  shrine 
That  is  the  tired  pilgrim's  ultimate  goal. 

— Eva  Gore-Booth. 


XI 

ELIJAH  KELLOGG,  OF  BOWDOIN 

The  College  Man  Who  Was  a  Boy  at  Eighty 

One  Suuday  afteriioou  in  1900  a  little,  wizened, 
brouzed,  old  man  with  a  vivid,  mobile  face  and  eyes 
like  live  coals,  stood  before  the  students  of  Bowdoiu 
College.  The  president,  William  De  Witt  Hyde, 
in  presenting  him,  said  :  ''It  was  a  sad  day  for  the 
children  of  Israel  when  there  arose  a  king  in  Egypt 
that  knew  not  Joseph.  It  will  be  a  sad  day  for 
Bowdoin  College  when  there  arises  a  generation  of 
students  who  know  not  Elijah  Kellogg." 

Elijah  Kellogg  lived  his  entire  life  under  the 
shadow  of  Bowdoin.  He  never  held  a  college  of- 
fice, he  received  no  material  benefits  from  the  in- 
stitution, but  from  the  day  he  came  to  Brunswick 
in  the  fall  of  1836  and  presented  himself,  as  he 
put  it,  "a  sedate  and  diffident  youth,  between  the 
two  maple  trees,  which  like  friendship  and  mis- 
fortune flung  their  shadows  over  tlie  steps  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Hall,  and  sued  for  admission  to  Bowdoin 
College,"  to  that  winter's  day  in  1901  when  his 
body  was  laid  to  rest,  there  was  not  one  moment 
when  Bowdoin  was  not  lavishing  its  respect  and 
affection  upon  the  little  tense  figure  now  known  as 
Bowdoin' s  greatest  campus  hero. 

[131] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Elijali  Kellogg's  father  was  Eev.  Elijah  Kellogg, 
pastor  of  the  Second  CoDgregational  Church  of  Port- 
land, Maine.  His  parents  had  said,  "  We  must  have 
a  prophet  in  the  family,"  and  the  name  of  Elijah 
befitted  both  father  and  son.  On  the  outbreak  of 
the  Ee volution,  Elijah  Kellogg,  Sr.,  buckled  on  his 
beh,  snatched  up  his  gun  and  x^owder  horn,  and 
marched  with  the  patriots  to  Bunker  Hill.  Behind 
him  in  the  line  of  descent  were  men  who  had  borne 
the  banner  of  the  cross  with  Richard  the  Lion- 
Hearted  and  had  fought  in  the  Wars  oftheEoses 
for  civil  and  religious  rights. 

The  young  Elijah  had  the  hot  blood  of  patriots 
running  in  his  veins.  No  wonder  he  could  tell 
thrilling  stories  of  the  men  whose  doughty  exploits 
have  illuminated  the  pages  of  history.  Kellogg  was 
a  hero  worshiper  and  when  he  grew  up,  it  was  little 
wonder  that  he  could  write  those  declamations 
familiar  to  every  schoolboy,  ^'Spartacus  to  the 
Gladiators,"  "Virgiuius  to  the  Eomau  Army," 
and  other  classical  speeches.  There  was  something 
elemental  about  Elijah  Kellogg,  a  quality  that  might 
well  be  emulated  by  the  young  men  of  to-day.  His 
ideal  hero  was  not  a  brawny  habitue  of  gymnasiums 
or  a  champion  of  the  gridiron.  He  admired  the 
horny-handed,  big-hearted  pioneer  who  fought  his 
way  through  almost  impenetrable  obstacles,  rising 
superior  to  all  difficulties  and  mastering  all  situa- 
tions. As  he  often  phrased  it,  he  liked  ''the  man 
who  never  got  whipped,  the  white  man  who  could 
outwit  an  Indian,  or  outhug  a  bear,  or  outrun  a 
pack  of  wolves,  the  man  who  could  fell  a  forest  and 

[132] 


ELIJAH  KELLOGG 


clear  a  farm  and  sow  his  corn  with  hostile  savages 
behind  every  tree."  He  liked  also  the  sailor  who 
could  outi-ide  the  fiercest  storm  and  bring  his  vessel 
into  port  rudderless  and  with  sails  whipped  to  rib- 
bons, water- logged  but  victorious. 

An  amusing  story  might  be  told  of  a  certain  Sun- 
day morning.  Young  Elijah  had  a  great  faculty 
for  getting  into  serious  scrapes  and  escaping  from 
them  with  great  facility.  On  this  particular  Sun- 
day he  went  swimming,  and  the  fascination  of  the 
water  held  him  until  after  service.  ''  Where  have 
you  been  1 ' '  asked  his  irate  father.  Without  hesi- 
tation the  boy  auswered  that  he  had  been  to  the 
Methodist  meeting.  He  was  a  little  tired  of  his 
father's  sermons  and  wanted  a  change.  ^'Give  me 
the  text."  The  boy  was  ready  with  one.  -'The 
points  of  the  sermon."  The  boy  started  in  invent- 
ing sermonic  material.  '' Elijah,  stop  right  there. 
Now  I  know  you  are  lying.  No  Methodist  preacher 
ever  talked  like  that.  That's  Calvinism.  You  never 
went  to  that  church. " 

Before  Elijah  was  thirteen  the  call  of  the  sea  cast 
its  spell  upon  him  and  he  became  a  sailor  for  sev- 
eral years,  knocking  about  the  world  on  the  wings 
of  the  wind.  After  returning  from  his  buffetings 
with  old  ocean,  where  he  had  learned  stern  lessons 
of  obedience  and  industry,  he  was  indentured  to  a 
farmer  and  became  proficient  in  the  use  of  the  hoe, 
the  scythe,  the  ax,  and  the  plow. 

It  was  then  that  the  stirrings  of  a  new  life  were 
felt  within  him  and  he  longed  for  an  education. 
This  was  good  news  to  his  father  and  there  was  a 

[133] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


day  of  ivjoiciDg  iu  the  home  when  youDg  Elijah  en- 
tered Gorham  Academj^  This  was  one  of  the  turn- 
ing poiuts  in  his  life,  the  awakening  within  him  to 
a  consciousness  of  his  intellectual  powers.  Shortly 
after  entering  the  academy  he  asked  himself  this 
question,  '^Is  a  life  of  mere  scholarship  the  highest 
and  best  of  which  I  am  capable?  "  Then  began  a 
period  of  inner  struggle  in  which  young  Kellogg 
began  to  realize  that  it  was  not  enough  for  him  to 
possess  mental  powers  sharpened  to  a  keen  edge,  as 
he  used  to  sharpen  his  ax  and  his  scythe.  He  saw 
that  intellectual  power  should  have  a  great  objec- 
tive, should  be  consecrated  to  a  noble  cause. 

The  second  turning  point  in  his  life  was  when  he 
made  the  choice  of  Christ  as  his  life  companion. 
Immediately  he  began  to  inquire  how  he  could 
exercise  his  spiritual  life.  He  started  a  Sunday 
school  several  miles  from  Gorham,  in  a  locality 
given  over  to  debauchery  and  vice  of  various  forms. 
Elijah  became  convinced  that  this  was  the  place 
where  God's  grace  was  needed  more  than  any  other 
in  the  countryside.  He  looked  about  for  some  one 
to  help  him  establish  the  school,  appealing  to  his 
friend,  George  L.  Prentice,  who  became  afterwards 
an  honored  professor  in  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York.  Prentice  answered:  "No,  Elijah,  I  do 
not  care  to  go  down  there.  They  will  kill  us  if  we 
do."  After  a  moment's  thought  he  added  :  "  I  will 
tell  you  what  Pll  do.  If  you  go  down  there  and 
start  a  Sunday  school  and  don't  get  killed,  I  will 
come  in  later  and  help  you." 

Young  Elijah   made   up  his  mind  he  would  go 

[134] 


ELIJAH  KELLOGG 


down  aloue  and  so  he  did.  He  gathered  the  vicious 
element  into  the  school  and  through  his  efforts  the 
entire  community  was  transformed.  To-day  the 
community  is  intelligent,  God-fearing,  and  Sabbath- 
keeping  because  of  the  efforts  of  Elijah  Kellogg 
three  quarters  of  a  century  ago. 

When  young  Kellogg  came  to  college  at  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  in  the  fall  of  1836,  there  were  no 
rational  outlets  for  youthful  spirits  ;  no  gymnasiums 
or  athletic  fields  helped  students  to  work  off  their 
superabundant  physical  and  nervous  energy.  Col- 
lege pranks,  in  which  the  student  was  always  sup- 
posed to  outwit  the  authorities  of  the  institution  and 
"get  a  laugh"  on  president  or  professor,  were  the 
accepted  mode. 

Elijah  Kellogg  was  an  adept  in  the  invention  of 
practical  jokes  and  various  forms  of  mischief.  Be- 
cause of  his  native  sense  of  humor  and  his  irresist- 
ible love  of  fun,  in  addition  to  his  spirit  of  adven- 
ture and  his  high  courage,  he  was  constantly 
tempted  to  break  the  stern  college  discipline  and 
lead  students  into  various  questionable  exploits 
which  were  calculated  to  relieve  the  grind  of  the 
classroom.  One  incident  is  historic.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  college  was  a  man  of  severe  dignity  and 
wore  a  silk  hat  as  an  emblem  of  his  high  i^osition. 
Certain  students  made  way  with  it  and  great  was 
the  glee  of  the  boys  as  the  president  was  compelled 
to  walk  across  the  campus  bareheaded.  Kellogg, 
although  he  was  not  in  the  original  plot,  offered  to 
put  the  hat  upon  the  chapel  spire.  In  the  darkness 
of  night,  accustomed  as  he  was  to  the  insecure  foot- 

[135] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


\ug  of  masts  and  yards,  he  climbed  up  the  swinging 
lightning  rod  along  the  high  spire,  and  placed  the 
president's  hat  on  the  very  summit  where  it  greeted 
the  morning  sun  and  received  the  hilarious  salutes 
of  the  students. 

But  beneath  his  light-hearted  behavior  and  mis- 
chievous inclinations  was  a  brave  and  generous 
heart  with  a  burning  hatred  of  everything  false  and 
mean,  and  a  desire  to  make  the  most  of  every  high 
and  noble  thought  or  act. 

He  was  intensely  loyal  to  his  friends  and  enjoyed 
the  fellowship  of  his  comrades.  One  who  knew  him 
well  speaks  of  him  as  being  '^universally popular, 
but  he  had  his  own  chosen  favorites,  and  one  char- 
acteristic of  him  was  his  strong  personal  affection 
for  them.  His  soul  burned  with  love  to  those 
whom  he  loved.  This  was  one  secret  of  his  power 
for  good." 

Much  of  young  Kellogg's  time  had  to  be  spent  in 
manual  labor  and  he  tells  of  the  various  ways  in 
which  he  managed  to  meet  his  expenses.  Much  of  his 
living  he  derived  from  work  on  neighboring  farms, 
but  this  did  not  prevent  his  taking  a  deep  interest 
in  the  literary  activities  of  the  college.  Kellogg 
entered  into  the  rivalry  between  the  two  literary 
societies,  and  added  not  a  little  to  the  reputation  of 
the  Peucinean  Society,  where  "a  poem  by  Kellogg 
was  a  very  rare  treat."  The  Bowdoin  Portfolio,  a 
literary  magazine,  received  his  contributions  which 
were  always  in  rime.  His  passion  for  the  sea  is 
evidenced  in  some  of  these,  as  in  the  following 
lines  : 

[136] 


ELIJAH  KELLOGG 


O'er  the  thuuderiug  chime  of  the  breaking  surge, 
On  the  lightning's  wing  my  pathway  urge, 
On  thrones  of  foam  right  joyous  ride, 
'Mid  the  sullen  dash  of  the  angry  tide. 

Elijah  Kellogg's  biographer,  Professor  Wil mot  B. 
Mitchell,  of  Bowdoiu,  says  :  ''  So  passed  his  college 
days,  iu  the  keeu  enjoyment  of  generous  comrade- 
ship, iu  the  iustiuctive  iudulgeuce  of  his  fondness 
for  fun  and  frolic,  iu  the  cheerful  acceptance  of  the 
burden  of  defraying  his  own  expenses,  in  manly 
fidelity  to  the  appointed  studies  of  the  course,  and 
in  the  voluntary  and  congenial  exercise  of  the 
literary  gifts  with  which  he  was  endowed." 

During  college  Kellogg  gathered  much  material 
for  his  stories  and  dramatic  recitations.  What 
schoolboy  is  not  familiar  with  the  thrilling  sentences 
in  his  ''  Spartacus  to  the  Gladiators"  :  "  Ye  call  me 
chief,  and  ye  do  well  to  call  him  chief  who,  for 
twelve  long  years,  has  met  upon  the  arena  every 
shape  of  man  or  beast  that  the  broad  Empire  of 
Eome  could  furnish,  and  has  never  yet  lowered  his 
arm.  .  .  .  O  Rome  !  Rome  !  thou  hast  been  a 
tender  nurse  to  me  !  .  .  .  O  comrades  !  warriors  ! 
Tbraciaus !  If  we  must  die,  let  us  die  under  the 
open  sky  !  " 

This  and  other  recitations,  such  as  the  less  famil- 
iar *' Regul  us,"  ''Hannibal,"  "  Pericles,"  "  Leon- 
idas  "  and  "  Yirginius,"  were  written  after  Mr.  Kel- 
logg had  left  college  and  was  attending  Andover 
Theological  Seminary.  The  students  at  Andover 
still  point  out  No.  20  Bartlett  Hall  as  the  room  where 
Kellogg  wrote  his  famous  "Spartacus." 

[137] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


We  must  pass  over  the  long  years  of  his  pastorate 
of  the  old  Harpswell  Church,  in  a  seaboard  towu  of 
Maine  ouly  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  college, 
where  some  of  the  best  work  of  his  life  was  done. 
One  trait,  however,  must  be  noted :  his  great  love 
for  boys.  He  was  constantly  selecting  boys  care- 
fully and  sending  them  to  Master  Swallow's  school  in 
Brunswick  to  fit  them  for  college.  Always  he  was 
seeking  their  companionship  and  talking  to  them  of 
his  own  boyhood  and  college  days.  Many  a  time  he 
would  gather  a  company  of  boys  about  him  and  tell 
them  of  his  life  as  a  sailor.  He  liked  to  tell  how 
the  frogs  used  to  croak  "K'logg,  K'logg,"  summon- 
ing him  from  his  studies,  and  also  of  the  time  when 
in  class  he  solemnly  assured  his  professor  that  Poly- 
carp  was  one  of  the  many  daughters  of  Mr.  Carp. 
One  of  his  stories  was  that  he  used  to  sail  the  waters 
of  Back  Cove,  Portland,  in  a  sugar  box,  taking  off 
his  shirt  to  make  a  sail. 

He  won  boys  by  entering  into  their  fun  and  work, 
swimming,  sailing,  farming,  and  fishing  with  the 
young  fellows  of  his  own  parish,  in  order  that,  at 
the  proper  time,  he  might  kneel  with  them  in  the 
boat,  or  by  the  side  of  a  haycock  in  the  field,  for 
committal  of  their  lives  to  God.  The  broken-legged 
boy  on  the  small  schooner  rescued  by  Mr.  Kellogg, 
grew  up  to  be  a  man,  and  years  after  in  his  pros- 
perity, came  to  church  and  left  a  fifty-dollar  bill  in 
the  hands  of  the  astonished  little  preacher. 

For  years  Bowdoin  College  used  to  send  to  Pastor 
Kello<::g  certain  students  who,  in  the  quaint  parlance 
of  the  day,  had  to  be  ''rusticated."     College  boys 

[138] 


ELIJAH  KELLOGG 


of  this  day  would  call  it  '^busted  out."  Mauy  a 
boy  got  his  first  glimpse  of  real  life  and  his  first 
serious  realization  of  responsibility  from  these 
sequestered  days  in  Mr.  Kellogg's  home.  One  day 
a  particularly  rebellious  boy,  angry  and  resentful 
from  the  discipline  of  the  college  and  the  stern  re- 
buke of  his  father,  was  sent  to  him.  Within  a  week 
or  two  the  lad  had  been  transformed  into  a  tender 
and  repentant  attitude.  Some  years  before  Mr. 
Kellogg's  death,  the  vice  president  of  a  large  west- 
ern railroad  journeyed  many  miles  to  look  into  the 
kindly  face  of  his  boyhood  friend  and  to  tell  him 
that  those  weeks  of  rare  fellowship  marked  the 
turning  point  in  his  career. 

In  1854  Mr.  Kellogg  accepted  the  invitation  of 
the  Boston  Seaman's  Friend  Society  to  become  pas- 
tor of  the  Mariners'  Church  and  chaplain  of  the 
Sailors'  Home,  where  he  accomplished  a  great  work 
for  the  men  who  ''go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships." 
Seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  sailors  confessed 
Christ  during  Mr.  Kellogg's  ministry  of  eleven 
years,  and  many  hundreds  of  unrecorded  lives  were 
redeemed  from  ways  of  sin. 

Some  years  before  he  left  the  Mariners'  Church, 
Mr.  Kellogg  began  writing  stories  for  boys.  His 
first  story  was  "Good  Old  Times"  which  became 
popular  with  young  people  in  the  later  sixties. 
Following  this  came  others  :  the  Elm  Island  stories, 
the  Forest  Glen,  the  Pleasant  Cove,  and  the  Whis- 
pering Pine  series,  until  there  were  twenty-nine  in 
all.  These  books  were  written  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  creating  in  boys  manly  and  generous 

[  139 '] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


qualities,  giviug  them  a  sense  of  sturdiness,  courage, 
aud  straightforward  dealing.  Always  there  was  the 
Christian  atmosphere  to  reckon  with.  We  read  that 
' '  so  imbued  was  the  author  with  this  purpose  that 
he  wrote  his  books,  as  he  expressed  it,  '  while  upon 
his  knees.'  " 

He  emphasized  constantly  the  value  of  hardship, 
speaking  of  it  as  "a  wholesome  stimulant  to  strong 
natures,  quickening  slumbering  energies,  compel- 
ling effort,  and  by  its  salutary  discipline  reducing 
refractory  elements."  He  advised  picking  out 
tough  chunks  to  split  and  striking  "  right  in  the 
middle  of  the  knot."  He  believed  that  a  boy  should 
learn  to  work  with  his  hands  as  well  as  with  his 
wits,  and  that  endurance,  pluck,  integrity,  and  self- 
sacrifice  were  indispensable  character- building  ele- 
ments. 

Elijah  Kellogg  was  more  to  Bowdoin  after  his 
graduation  than  during  his  actual  college  days. 
He  spent  much  time  at  the  college,  feeling  that  his 
visits  to  his  Alma  Mater  could  be  considered  as  truly 
pastoral  as  any  of  his  work  at  Harpswell  or  Boston. 
Says  Mr.  Mitchell  :  ''It  did  not  take  long  for  the 
news  to  spread  that  Elijah  Kellogg  was  in  college  ; 
and  then  the  hospitable  room  would  be  visited  by 
many  callers,  eager  to  greet  the  shy,  weather-beaten 
little  man,  whose  heart  was  always  warm  for  boys, 
and  even  the  mazy  wrinkles  of  whose  face  seemed 
to  speak  less  of  age  than  of  kindness.  And  by  the 
evening  lamp  an  interested  circle  of  students  forgot 
the  morrow's  lessons  as  they  listened  to  stories  of 
olden  time,  and  to  quaint  words  of  counsel  and  com- 

[  140  ] 


ELIJAH  KELLOGG 


iiient  as  tliey  fell  from  the  visitor's  lips.  When  the 
circle  finally  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Kellogg  aud  his 
entertainers  were  left  alone,  a  psalm,  which  seemed 
somehow  to  gain  new  meaning  from  his  reading  of 
it,  and  a  simple  earnest  prayer,  brought  the  long 
evening  to  a  fitting  aud  memorable  close.'' 

When  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  col- 
lege was  celebrated  in  1894,  one  thousand  graduates 
sat  down  to  the  banquet  in  a  great  tent  set  up  on 
the  campus.  When  Elijah  Kellogg  was  called  upon 
to  resi^ond  to  a  toast,  every  graduate  sprang  to  his 
feet,  cheering  wildly  for  Bowdoin's  Grand  Old  Man. 
They  tell  us  that  "the  flush  of  troubled  happiness 
that  flitted  across  his  bronzed  and  wrinkled  face 
was  something  long  to  be  remembered,  as  was  also 
his  glowing  tribute  of  affection  for  the  college." 

Many  a  student  standing  there  and  cheering  for 
Mr.  Kellogg  remembered  the  old  man's  visit  to  his 
room,  where,  after  the  stories,  the  jokes,  and  the 
reminiscences  of  college  life  in  earlier  days,  there 
would  be  an  appropriate  reference  to  the  deeper 
things  of  life  and  a  prayer  in  the  closing  moments 
of  the  visit.  If  these  informal  calls  were  prolonged 
far  into  the  night,  the  boys  would  find  a  bed  in  the 
dormitory  for  the  man  they  called  "  the  good  genius 
of  the  college."  For  many  years  the  real  dean  and 
disciplinary  force  of  Bowdoin  was  Elijah  Kellogg, 
''demonstrator  of  applied  common  sense"  to  col- 
lege problems. 

Elijah  Kellogg  died  in  harness  March  19,  1901, 
in  the  eighty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  "  I  thank 
God,"  he  said  in  his  last  prayer,  "  for  a  Christian 

[141] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


mother  who  consecrated  me  to  CJirist  and  the  Chris- 
tian ministry."  With  a  little  sigh  he  exclaimed, 
*'  I  am  so  thankful,"  and  thus  died  the  best  friend 
Bowdoin  College  ever  knew.  The  members  of  the 
Alpha  Delta  Phi  Fraternity,  to  which  he  belonged, 
formed  the  choir  at  his  funeral. 

In  one  of  his  sermons  to'  Bowdoin  students  in 
1889,  he  described  the  beauty  of  autumn  and  said  : 
"  But  a  brighter  glory  illumines  the  autumn  of  life 
that  has  been  spent  with  God  and  for  God.  What 
language  shall  describe,  what  figures  worthily  set 
forth,  the  maturity  of  a  soul  that  in  these  days  of 
secular  knowledge  and  gospel  privilege  has  gath- 
ered to  itself  all  that  God  has  taught.  .  .  .  Per- 
mit one  united  to  you  by  the  college  tie  to  which 
time  only  adds  intensity  and  depth,  who  has  trav- 
eled over  the  path  your  feet  are  now  pressing,  who 
has  reached  that  period  of  life  when  the  tissue  of 
the  dream  robe  has  fallen,  to  inquire  if  you  are  lay- 
ing the  foundations  for  such  a  maturity  as  has  been 
described.  You  are  living  in  a  day  that  affords 
opportunity  and  likewise  compels  responsibility. 
.  .  .  May  you  resemble  trees  planted  by  living 
waters. ' ' 

It  would  be  a  great  inspiration  if  every  college  in 
the  land  could  point  to  some  Elijah  Kellogg.  Bow- 
doin College  cannot  measure  the  value  of  this  man. 
It  is  not  buildings  and  endowment  that  make  a  col- 
lege. Elijah  Kellogg  is  Bowdoin.  ''Get  the  man 
and  all  is  got." 


[142] 


XII 

David  Yonan,  of  Davidson 
"  Greatei'  Love  Hath  No  Man  Than  This  " 


Measure  thy  life  by  loss  instead  of  gain  ; 
Not  by  the  wine  druuk,  but  the  wine  poured  forth  ; 
For  love's  strength  standeth  in  love's  sacrifice  ; 
And  who  suffers  most  hath  most  to  give. 

—  King. 


XII 

DAVID  YONAN,  OF  DAVIDSON 
*'  Greater  Love  Hath  No  Man  Than  This  " 

Tpie  campus  life  of  Davidsou,  the  great  Presby- 
terian college  of  North  Carolina,  is  of  such  a  high 
order  that  a  man  of  noble  ideals  does  not  stand  out 
against  the  background  of  Davidson  as  prominently 
as  he  would  stand  out  in  some  institutions.  Never- 
theless the  record  of  the  brilliant  young  Persian  no- 
bleman, David  Yonan,  whose  sudden  death  resulted 
from  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  rescue  a  fellow 
student  from  drowning,  is  regarded  by  the  men  of 
Davidson  as  the  clearest  example  of  the  heroic  life 
as  understood  and  practiced  there. 

David  Yonan  was  born  in  Urumia,  Persia,  in 
1880.  His  father  was  a  member  of  the  nobility 
and  a  governor  of  three  towns,  two  of  them  Mo- 
hammedan and  the  third  Christian.  Leaving  the 
Nestorian  Church,  the  ancient  Christian  communion 
in  Asia,  Governor  Yonan  entered  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  became  an  ardent  supporter  of  all  its 
mission  work.  Yonan' s  forefathers  were  originally 
Moslems  but  embraced  Christianity,  thereby  losing 
greatly  in  prestige  among  the  Moslem  court  circles. 
In  time  the  financial  standing  of  the  family  was  also 
lost  and  when  young  David,  after  a  preparatory 
course  in  the  mission  school  at  Urumia,  wished  to 

[145] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


come  to  America  for  a  college  education,  his  parents 
were  uot  able  to  support  him  in  his  desire,  and,  for 
other  reasons,  did  not  approve  of  the  plan. 

But  about  this  time  the  boy  fell  ill  with  a  pro- 
tracted fever  and  during  his  illness  his  thoughts 
were  directed  toward  the  work  of  medical  missions. 
His  distinguished  uncle.  Dr.  Isaac  Yonan,  had  re- 
ceived an  American  education  and  influenced  David 
to  think  of  America  as  the  place  where  his  powers 
might  best  be  develox)ed. 

In  course  of  time  Yonan,  armed  with  letters  of 
introduction  from  his  uncle,  landed  in  this  country 
and  applied  for  entrance  to  Pantops  Academy,  Vir- 
ginia. For  several  years  he  struggled  manfully  to 
master  the  English  language  and  to  su^jport  himself. 
His  record  in  the  academy  reflected  honor  upon  the 
institution  and  the  student  alike.  He  applied  him- 
self to  his  studies  with  great  intensity  of  purpose, 
and,  possessing  a  genial  and  hearty  nature,  won  for 
himself  scores  of  friends  who  gave  him  every  en- 
couragement. At  Pantops  he  took  highest  rank  in 
his  studies  although  handicapped  by  the  language. 
He  used  to  tell  how  he  was  compelled  to  translate 
each  sentence  in  English  back  into  Persian  and  then 
retranslate  it  into  English  before  a  recitation. 

In  the  fall  of  1896  he  entered  Davidson  College 
where  he  was  introduced  into  the  hospitable  home 
of  Dr.  William  J.  Martin,  a  professor  of  chemistry 
who  later  became  president  of  the  institution.  Im- 
mediately a  warm  friendship  sprang  up  between  the 
professor  and  the  young  foreigner. 

Yonan,  who  was  two  or  three  years  older  than  the 

[146] 


DAVID  YONAN 


average  college  student,  was  able  to  assume  a  posi- 
tion of  leadership.  His  roommate  describes  his  win- 
ning manner  and  noble  bearing  in  these  words : 
"He  had  a  peculiarly  erect  and  impressive  car- 
riage. His  face  was  strong  and  kind.  His  eyes 
were  his  most  eloquent  feature.  They  were  soft  and 
gentle  in  repose,  but  lighted  up  at  times  with  humor 
or  flashed  fire  with  strong  emotion. "  In  the  first 
two  years  David  had  won  for  himself  a  unique  place 
in  the  hearts  of  students  and  faculty  alike.  Al- 
though throughout  his  course  he  was  handicapped 
by  poverty,  being  compelled  to  earn  every  penny  of 
expenditure,  he  was  able  to  rise  above  this  limita- 
tion and  to  mingle  ardently  in  all  the  college  activi- 
ties. He  soon  developed  into  a  typical  representa- 
tive of  his  college,  taking  a  prominent  part  in 
athletic,  literary,  and  social  activities  both  within 
and  without  the  college  walls. 

One  describes  him  as  "one  of  the  most  innately 
noble  men  I  have  ever  met."  He  possessed  an  un- 
limited capacity  for  strong,  pure  friendships,  and 
those  who  were  admitted  to  the  inner  circle  of  his 
heart  realized  how  great  and  unselfish  were  its  im- 
pulses. He  was  clean  in  mind  and  it  was  said  of 
him  that  he  had  never  been  known  to  use  an  oath, 
tell  a  vulgar  story,  or  speak  an  indecent  word. 
Every  day  he  read  his  Persian  Bible  and  spent 
much  time  in  prayer. 

The  lightness  and  gayety  of  American  college 
men  were  not  his  by  heredity  or  temperament. 
Like  many  Orientals  he  had  a  certain  wistful  air 
and,   while  genial,   was  never  frivolous  or  light- 

[147] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


hearted.  Que  always  received  the  impression  that 
this  foreigner,  while  at  peace  with  the  world  aud 
possessed  of  an  inner  joy,  carried  the  burden  of  the 
world's  sin  and  was  always  thinking  of  the  deep 
things  of  life.  His  classmates  were  under  the  im- 
pression that  he  found  the  separation  from  his 
family  and  friends  in  Persia  much  harder  to  bear 
tlian  he  would  admit. 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Yonan  was  in 
any  sense  a  ''kill- joy."  He  was  interested  in  all 
manly  sport  and  was  delighted  when  in  his  sopho- 
more year  intercollegiate  football  was  permitted  at 
Davidson  for  the  first  time  in  its  history.  The  Per- 
sian immediately  went  out  day  after  day  in  the 
"  scrub '^  lines  and  succeeded  at  length  in  making 
the  team.  He  acquired  great  proficiency  in  an  in- 
credibly short  time  and  was  given  the  j)Osition  of 
tackle  on  the  varsity  team.  He  played  for  three 
years,  and  football  experts  who  studied  his  game  de- 
clared that  he  was  probably  the  strongest  tackle  in 
the  South  and,  with  proper  coaching,  would  have 
won  national  fame  on  a  big  team. 

Eev.  W.  M.  Walsh,  an  alumnus  of  Davidson, 
now  a  pastor  at  Sherman,  Texas,  writes  :  ''  He  was 
the  terror  of  his  opponents,  always  just  a  little  bet- 
ter than  his  man,  not  only  because  he  was  so  strong 
but  by  reason  of  his  alertness  aud  catlike  quickness. 
On  the  college  team  he  played  right  half  back.  I 
played  full  back,  and  shall  never  forget  the  safe  feel- 
ing I  had  when  I  started  with  the  ball  through  the 
line  following  'Sally,'  as  we  called  him.  It  nearly 
always  meant  a  good  game  because  he  would  make 

[148] 


DAVID  YONAN 


a  hole  if  there  was  noue  there  already.  I  often  felt 
that  the  cheers  from  the  side  lines  should  be  for  hiju 
and  not  for  the  man  carrying  the  ball.  I  feel  sure, 
however,  that  he  did  not  covet  honors  given  to  other 
players." 

At  that  time  wrestling  had  not  been  introduced 
into  the  athletics  of  Davidson  to  any  extent,  but 
Yonan  had  no  match  in  this  particular  sport,  hav- 
ing brought  with  him  from  Persia  certain  remark- 
able tricks  on  the  order  of  jujutsu.  '^I  recall  dis- 
tinctly," says  Mr.  Walsh,  "how,  on  one  occasion, 
soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  senior  year,  a  certain 
boastful  but  good-natured  freshman  dared  Yonan  to 
a  wrestling  bout.  The  Persian  played  with  him  for 
a  short  time  then  feigued  a  fall  backward  and, 
quick  as  a  flash,  hurled  the  astonished  freshman 
over  his  shoulder,  lauding  him  on  the  ground  flat  as 
a  flounder,  much  to  the  amusement  of  the  by- 
standers." 

Throughout  the  four  years  of  his  course  David 
Yonan  made  high  grades  constantly  and  won  houojs 
at  the  end.  In  the  spring  of  1900  he  received 
the  degree  of  A.  B.  He  determined  to  remain  in  the 
vicinity  of  Davidson  that  summer  and  to  enter  the 
medical  school  of  the  college  in  the  fall.  Later  he 
was  to  return  to  Persia  as  a  medical  missionary 
under  the  care  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S. 

During  the  summer  Yonan  who  was  working  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  college  was  invited  to  at- 
tend a  picnic  given  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
the  town  of  Davidson  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful 

[149] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Catawba  River.  He  entered  into  the  many  sports 
offered  and  joined  a  bathing  party  in  the  afternoon. 
He  had  never  learned  to  swim  and  was  standing  on 
the  opposite  bank  from  the  large  group  of  bathers, 
talking  with  Eev.  A.  T.  Graham.  Suddenly  a  call 
for  help  was  heard  and  a  medical  student  by  the 
name  of  Fred  Hobbs  was  seen  straggling  in  the 
water.  Yonan  immediately  sprang  to  the  rescue. 
His  companion  shouted  to  him  not  to  go  into  deep 
water,  but  the  latter  called  back,  ''  Oh,  Mr.  Graham, 
I  must  save  Fred  life,"  leaving  off  the  possessive 
of  the  boy's  name  according  to  his  oriental  idiom. 
Heedless  of  his  danger,  and  responding  automat- 
ically to  the  cry  of  need,  Yonan  dashed  into  water 
thirty  feet  deep  and  went  down  like  a  log,  sinking 
after  a  brief  struggle  without  a  crj^  The  i)resident 
of  the  institution,  Dr.  Henry  Lewis  Smith,  who 
had  started  on  his  homeward  way,  heard  the  shout- 
ing and  running  back  threw  off  his  clothes  and 
dived  repeatedly  into  the  deep  water,  but  his  ut- 
most efforts  were  unavailing.  The  bodies  of  the 
two  students  were  subsequently  recovered  and 
everything  possible  was  attempted  to  resuscitate 
them,  but  in  vain. 

''Thus  went  out  suddenly,"  writes  Dr.  Reed 
Smith,  classmate  and  roommate  of  Yonan,  "  a  life 
full  to  the  utmost  of  promise  for  future  service  and 
usefulness.  To  human  eyes  it  seems  strange  indeed 
that  a  career  of  such  large  possibilities  for  good 
should  be  ended  just  at  the  time  when  it  was  ready 
to  bear  fruit.  The  example  that  he  left,  however, 
has  been  an  inspiration  to  all  who  knew  him.     The 

[150] 


DAVID  YONAN 


influence  of  a  strong  soul  upon  others,  though  in- 
tangible and  invisible,  is  both  powerful  and  im- 
mortal. Many  of  Yonan's  friends  and  fellow 
students  are  to-day  leading  lives  that  are  higher  and 
nobler  because  of  the  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  of 
one  who  came  to  a  foreign  land  to  fit  himself  for 
service,  and  there,  in  the  flower  of  his  youthful 
vigor,  laid  down  his  life  at  the  call  of  what  he  nobly 
esteemed  his  duty." 

In  spite  of  the  tragedy,  the  men  of  Davidson  now 
have  an  added  pride  in  their  institution,  for  there 
lived  beneath  its  shadow  for  a  time  one  of  those 
heroes  whose  shining  deed  no  Carnegie  medal  can 
ever  hope  to  make  the  brighter.  Davidson  College 
makes  a  better  output  of  leadership  now  because 
David  Yonan  lived  and  died. 


[151] 


XIII 

Horace  William  Rose,  of  Beloit 

Win7ter  of  Meji  to  Christ 


Who  loved  God  and  truth  above  all  things. 

A  man  of  untarnished  honor, 

Loyal  and  chivalrous,  gentle  and  strong, 

Modest  and  humble,  tender  and  true, 

Pitiful  to  the  weak,  yearning  after  the  erring, 

Stern  to  all  forms  of  wrong  and  oppression, 

Yet  most  stern  toward  himself ; 

Who  being  angry  yet  sinned  not. 

Whose  highest  virtues  were  known  only 

To  his  wife,  his  children,  his  servants,  and  the  poor, 

Who  lived  in  the  presence  of  God  here, 

And  passing  through  the  grave  and  gate  of  death 

Now  liveth  unto  God  forevermore. 

—Dedication  of  the  Life  of  Charles  Kingsley,  by  his  wife. 


XIII 

HORACE  WILLIAM  ROSE,  OF  BELOIT 

Wi7me7'  of  Men  to  Christ 

One  of  Horace  Eose's  favorite  expressioDS  was 
that  this  or  that  worker  might  ''burn  a  path  of 
light  through  the  colleges."  If  ever  a  mau  burued 
a  path  of  light  through  the  colleges  of  the  Middle 
West  it  was  "Holly"  Eose,  graduate  of  Beloit  iu 
the  class  of  1896. 

Duriug  the  year  of  his  service  with  the  Inter- 
national Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  eighty  colleges  were  visited,  in  sixty  of 
which  men  were  converted  during  his  stay.  In  that 
one  year  he  won  over  four  hundred  students  to 
Christ.  Through  his  instrumentality  over  a  score 
of  men  were  led  to  give  their  lives  to  foreign  mis- 
sions and  a  larger  number  to  enter  other  forms  of 
Christian  service.  As  a  result  of  his  efforts  over 
six  hundred  men  were  brought  into  Bible  classes 
and  literally  thousands  were  personally  interviewed. 

And  all  this  service  in  his  brief  life  of  twenty- 
seven"  years  !  David  Brainerd  and  Henry  Martyn 
lived  five  years  longer,  Samuel  Mills  lived  eight 
years  longer.  Jesus  Christ  was  only  a  little  older 
when  his  earthly  life  was  finished.  At  the  memo- 
rial service  held    for   Eose  at  the   Lake    Geneva 

[  155  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


Summer  Confereuce  in  1901,  it  was  said  that  "  lie 
lived  a  fiuished  life." 

Although  Horace  Rose  serv^ed  for  only  one  year 
under  the  International  Committee,  he  had  given 
eight  years  of  active  service  to  the  college  field  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  influencing  an  entire  generation  of  North 
American  college  students. 

Horace  William  Rose  was  a  native  of  Rockford, 
Illinois,  and  was  born  in  1874.  His  father,  Rev. 
William  Wilber force  Rose,  was  a  Congregational 
minister  of  marked  ability.  The  home  life  of  the 
Rose  family  was  ideal.  The  four  sous  and  their 
parents  were  like  brothers  and  sister.  Horace  had 
the  deepest  reverence  for  his  father,  whose  nobility 
of  character  had  a  marked  influence  upon  him  from 
earliest  boyhood. 

Nothing  remarkable  can  be  said  of  Horace's 
early  years.  He  loved  his  home,  spending  much 
time  in  the  family  circle.  His  evenings  were  given 
to  the  life  of  the  home.  He  was  a  great  fun  maker 
and  joined  in  all  the  sports  of  the  community.  He 
developed  splendid  physical  prowess  and  was  at 
home  on  the  diamond  and  the  gridiron.  A  brother 
writes:  ''The  boys  liked  to  hear  Holly's  merry, 
loud  laugh  and  wanted  him  on  their  side  in  the 
different  contests.  He  had  a  great  desire  for  win- 
ning and  would  strive  the  utmost  to  win  but  never 
did  so  unless  fairly." 

Beloit  College,  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  opened  its 
doors  to  Horace  in  the  fall  of  1892.  He  at  once 
entered  into  all  the  activities  of  the  college  but  did 

[156] 


HORACE   WILLIAM   ROSE 


not  take  high  rank  in  his  studies,  deliberately 
choosing  an  intermediate  course  between  the 
"grinds'^  and  the  "sports."  As  his  biographer, 
Harry  Wade  Hicks,  says:  "He  realized  that 
never  again  would  he  be  placed  in  an  environment 
where  his  Christian  influence  would  count  for  so 
much  as  in  college.  Therefore  he  regulated  his 
program  with  Christian  work  accorded  a  prominent 
place  in  his  daily  schedule."  He  did,  however, 
qualify  for  a  master's  degree,  entering  enthusiastic- 
ally into  graduate  studies  as  his  time  permitted. 

His  father  was  very  proud  of  his  progress  in  col- 
lege and  wrote  to  a  friend  in  November,  1891,  as 
follows  :  "  Holly  is  doing  finely  at  Beloit.  He  is  a 
big  fellow,  very  forceful  and  independent,  very 
conscientious.  He  is  in  his  work  with  all  his  heart 
and  seems  to  be  making  an  excellent  beginning. 
He  seems  to  be  a  popular  fellow  with  the  boys. " 
In  another  letter  he  remarked,  "It  is  rather  notice- 
able how  that  boy  makes  everything  go." 

Eose  took  a  place  of  leadership  in  Beloit  at  the 
very  start.  In  1892  and  1893  he  was  made  vice 
president  of  his  class  and  in  1895  he  was  elected 
president.  At  that  time  he  acted  as  business  man- 
ager of  the  college  paper,  and,  in  addition  to  his 
journalistic  work,  entered  oratorical  contests  and 
secured  first  place  in  the  interstate  contest,  with  the 
colleges  of  ten  states  competing  for  the  prizes. 

In  athletics,  also,  Horace  took  a  leading  part. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  college  baseball  team  for 
two  years  and  developed  into  one  of  the  best  catch- 
ers in  the  Middle  West.     Afterwards,  at  summer 

[  1-'  ] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


couferences  and  other  gatherings  of  college  men,  he 
was  elected  captain  and  general  manager  and  or- 
ganized winning  teams.  In  his  sophomore  year  he 
made  the  varsity  football  team.  While  serving  as 
Association  secretary  at  Iowa  and  Michigan,  he  con- 
tinued to  play  the  game. 

But  it  was  as  a  religious  leader  that  Eose  took 
commanding  j^lace  at  Beloit  between  the  years  1892 
and  1906.  During  his  senior  year  he  was  made 
president  of  the  Association.  "  Many  a  man,"  says 
a  classmate,  "  may  date  the  beginning  of  his  Chris- 
tian life  to  the  earnest  appeal  of  Horace  Eose  made 
to  him  in  his  room  while  he  was  a  student  of  Beloit. 
It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  on  the  day  of  an  im- 
portant Association  prayer  meeting  for  him  to  go 
through  the  dormitory  and  invite  personally  every 
one  of  the  sixty  or  seventy  men  in  the  hall  to  attend 
the  meeting,  and  frequently  he  had  interviews  with 
a  dozen  or  more  men  in  a  single  day  regarding  the 
duty  of  deciding  for  Christ." 

The  moral  and  religious  atmosphere  of  the  college 
fraternity  is  often  dominated  by  one  or  two  men  of 
strong  personality.  No  dogmatic  statement  can  be 
made  as  to  the  value  of  fraternities  without  taking 
into  account  the  men  who  direct  their  ideals  from 
time  to  time.  The  same  fraternity  may  be  entirely 
different  in  different  college  generations.  Eose 
realized  this  and  accepted  the  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing fraternity  life  at  Beloit  tell  for  the  best.  He 
therefore  joined  Beta  Theta  Pi  and  became  a  loyal 
Greek.  He  believed  that  men  would  respond  to  re- 
ligious appeals  whether  in  or  out  of  fraternities  and 

[158] 


HORACE  WILLIAM  ROSE 


this  belief  brought  him  into  constant  contact  with 
chapter  houses  in  his  visits  to  western  colleges  in 
later  years.  In  many  an  institution  fraternities 
were  transformed  through  the  influence  of  Eose. 
When  he  became  secretary  at  the  University  of 
Michigan  over  a  dozen  houses  agreed  to  organize 
Bible  classes.  This  is  illustrative  of  the  way  in 
which  Rose  used  fraternity  life  in  winning  men  to 
Christ. 

He  realized,  however,  the  danger  of  college  ex- 
clusiveness  and  made  special  efforts  to  show  that 
he  was  as  much  a  friend  of  the  man  who  was  *'  out 
of  things"  as  he  was  of  his  own  fraternity  brothers. 
Says  a  classmate,  ''Fear  lest  his  fraternity  con- 
nection might  'queer'  him  with  the  rest  of  the 
boys  made  him  think  more  about  them  and  give 
more  attention  to  the  unpopular,  green,  unsought 
and  unknown  '  preps'  than  he  did  to  more  popular 
men."  Almost  his  first  question,  however,  in  vis- 
iting a  college  was,  "  What  are  the  Beta  boys  doing 
for  Jesus  Christ  ?  " 

During  vacations  Horace  accepted  work  under 
the  state  Sunday-school  association  and  traveled 
throughout  Wisconsin  organizing  Sunday  schools. 
A  story  is  told  of  his  applying  at  a  farmhouse  for 
a  night's  lodging.  The  farmer  answered  gruffly, 
"  We  don't  want  any  Sunday  school  in  these  parts 
and  you  can't  find  children  enough  to  make  a  Sun- 
day school,  and  you  can't  stay  overnight."  He 
persuaded  the  farmer's  wife  to  give  him  a  bowl  of 
milk  and  bread  and  afterwards  won  the  hearts  of 
the  entire  family  so  that  he  was  not  only  invited  to 

[  159  ]  . 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


remain  overuiglit  but  the  children  of  the  household 
were  promised  for  the  uew  Sunday  school. 

Daring  liis  junior  and  senior  years  Horace  Eose 
preached  regularly  every  Sunday  to  two  different 
congregations,  giving  one  the  morning  service  and 
the  other  the  evening  service.  He  organized  gospel 
teams  and  conducted  evangelistic  tours  throughout 
the  rural  districts.  On  one  occasion  he  remarked 
to  one  of  his  companions,  ''Bill,  the  thing  that 
bothers  me  more  than  anything  else  is,  are  we  giv- 
ing to  the  people  the  real  gospel  ?  " 

Many  a  college  man  feels  that  he  has  no  right  to 
take  a  prominent  part  in  the  religious  life  of  his 
college  because  of  the  glaring  inconsistencies  be- 
tween his  public  expression  and  his  private  life. 
Horace  Eose  had  nothing  like  this  to  fear.  With- 
out ostentation  or  sanctimony  he  pushed  the  claims 
of  Christ  fearlessly  and  made  men  feel  a  responsi- 
bility for  upholding  the  moral  and  religious  tone  of 
the  college.  ''He  did,"  as  one  remarked,  "one  of 
the  hardest  things  in  the  world  ;  to  live  a  blameless 
life  in  every  particular  before  his  fellows." 

On  graduating  he  was  called  to  become  general 
secretary  of  the  Christian  Association  at  the  State 
University  of  Iowa.  He  had  been  thinking  seri- 
ously of  entering  the  gospel  ministry,  but  on  seek- 
ing advice  of  many  friends,  he  turned  toward  the 
secretaryship  of  the  Christian  Association  because 
he  felt  that  this  afforded  him  the  best  opportunities 
for  the  exercise  of  his  special  gifts.  During  the 
year  which  he  spent  at  Iowa  he  had  revolutionized 
the  Association  and  "  came  nearer  touching  the  life 

[160] 


HORACE  WILLIAM  ROSE 


of  the  student  body  than  any  man  who  has  been 
general  secretary  before  or  since  that  time."  lie 
sang  in  the  glee  club  and  in  one  of  the  choirs  and 
was  manager  of  the  track  team.  One  who  knew 
him  well  declared  that  had  he  remained  he  would 
have  changed  the  Greek  letter  fraternities  from  their 
attitude  of  opposing  the  Association  to  that  of  thor- 
ough support  and  cooperation. 

The  following  year  Rose  became  secretary  of  the 
newly  organized  Christian  Association  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  and  here  also  remarkable  re- 
sults were  attained  from  the  start.  The  Association 
was  quickened  in  its  spiritual  life,  its  Bible  study 
department  was  stimulated,  mission  study  was  de- 
veloped, personal  workers'  classes  were  organized, 
and  many  students  were  led  into  the  Christian  life 
as  a  result  of  the  new  spirit  infused  by  this  conse- 
crated worker.  He  developed  his  system  of  per- 
sonal work  at  Michigan,  a  system  of  grouping  a  few 
men  for  prayer  and  the  study  of  God's  Word.  The 
administrative  work  of  the  Association  did  not  seem 
to  chill  his  spiritual  life  or  cool  his  ardor  for  soul- 
winning.  His  rooms  were  constantly  filled  with 
men  who  wished  to  talk  with  him  concerning  per- 
sonal religious  problems.  A  fellow  secretary  says  : 
"One  day,  being  very  tired,  he  left  word  at  the 
Association  rooms  that  he  would  take  a  day  off  for 
rest.  Soon  his  doorbell  rang  and  one  after  another 
twenty-two  men  called.  I  asked  him  how  he  ac- 
counted for  this  unusual  occurrence.  'Oh,'  he  re- 
plied, *the  fellows  know  that  I  am  interested  in 
them.     I  have  called  on  all  of  them  in  their  rooms 

[IGl] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


aDd  opened  up  the  subject.  Now  when  they  are  in 
trouble  they  come  to  me.'  He  was  the  most  con- 
stant personal  worker  I  have  ever  known.  .  .  . 
The  next  day  I  saw  him  in  a  secluded  corner  sing- 
ing a  lively  song  and  dancing  a  jig." 

During  his  first  year  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan he  married.  His  wife  was  one  who  could  enter 
most  heartily  into  all  his  work,  and,  after  his  accept- 
ance of  the  iDosition  with  the  International  Commit- 
tee, she  accompanied  him  on  many  of  his  trips  to 
the  colleges. 

He  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  leaders  in 
Association  work  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and 
powerful  secretaries,  and  was  asked  to  take  the  sec- 
retaryship of  the  colleges  in  the  Middle  West.  Eose 
was  a  humble  man  and  the  opportunity  came  almost 
as  a  shock.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  said :  ' '  The 
International  Committee  must  be  hard  up  for  men. 
It  is  a  big  comedown  from  Michener  to  common 
clay  like  me." 

From  September,  1899,  until  his  death  in  January, 
1901,  he  did  one  of  the  most  notable  pieces  of  work 
in  Association  history.  It  is  impossible  here  to  fol- 
low his  course  through  the  colleges  and  universities 
of  the  Middle  West.  But  it  is  helpful  to  glance  at 
the  list  of  institutions  and  a  few  of  his  comments 
upon  his  work. 

At  the  University  of  Kansas  he  *'got  several  men 
to  make  a  scientific  fight  to  overcome.'^  At  the 
University  of  Illinois,  "  We  had  a  marked  blessing, 
six  or  seven  men  owning  Christ  as  Saviour  and 
Lord  for  the  first  time."     At  the  Agricultural  Col- 

[  162  ] 


HORACE  WILLIAM  ROSE 


lege,  MichigaD,  '^Helped  to  clean  out  some  lives." 
At  his  own  Alma  Mater,  ''Stirred  up  a  hornets' 
nest  in  one  of  the  fraternities,  which  is  having  the 
effect  of  cleaning  things  out."  At  the  University 
of  Wisconsin,  "  Two  men  accepted  Christ  and  nearly 
fifty  enlisted  for  Bible  study."  At  the  University 
of  Missouri :  "  Have  just  come  from  the  local  chap- 
ter of  our  fraternity.  Good  fellows,  but  without 
much  care  for  the  will  of  God  concerning  their 
lives."  At  the  Agricultural  College,  Ames,  Iowa: 
"  Fourteen  men  accepted  Christ,  many  men  dropped 
something  from  their  life  and  still  others  began  to 
fight.  During  Monday  three  men  accepted  Christ." 
At  Grinnell  College:  ''Two  more  men  accepted 
Christ.  I  was  flooded  with  interviews.  O  for  the 
mind  of  Christ !  How  his  loving  heart  must  loug 
for  these  fellows  who  have  been  fighting  losiug  bat- 
tles !  O  for  the  energy  of  Paul,  the  fearlessness  of 
Isaiah,  and  the  love  of  John  !  " 

At  the  Agricultural  College,  Brooking,  South 
Dakota,  where  ten  men  accepted  Christ,  he  wrote, 
"  I  always  hate  to  report  numbers  for  it  gives  me  a 
sense  of  satisfaction  which  I  wish  was  not  in  my 
life."  At  the  Uuiversity  of  South  Dakota :  "Seven 
conversions.  Hope  they  will  stick.  Some  were 
football  men.  It  was  a  manifestation  of  divine 
power."  At  Knox  College,  Galesburg,  Illinois: 
"  The  members  of  Beta  fraternity  have  knocked 
down  old  traditions  and  come  up  higher.  Lack  of 
concern  for  fellow  students  is  a  great  hindrance." 
From  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Indiana,  he 
wrote,  "O  for  power  to  burn  a  path  of  light  in 

[163] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


these  colleges  for  Christ ! "  At  the  University  of 
ludiaua,  BloomiDgton,  Indiana :  *' Perhaps  ten  or 
twelve  were  converted.  These  men  were  anchored 
in  personal  work  after  the  meeting."  At  a  certain 
college  he  was  invited  to  stay  in  rooms  occupied  by 
students  but  was  offended  by  certain  indecent  pic- 
tures and  quietly  said  that  they  would  have  to  come 
down  if  he  was  to  stay  there.  The  students  asserted 
that  Rose  would  "have  to  take  them  down  first." 
The  verbatim  account  follows  : 

''At  college  Rose  was  a  famous  wrestler.  He 
immediately  accepted  their  challenge,  and  one  at  a 
time  threw  the  four  men  in  succession,  although 
two  of  them  were  much  larger  men.  After  the 
wrestling  bout,  he  saw  a  baseball  on  the  table  and 
said,  '  Do  you  men  play  ball  ? '  And  they  replied, 
'  Yes,  a  little.'  Rose  said,  '  I  used  to  do  some  of  it 
myself.  Come  out  in  the  yard  and  I  will  play  burn 
with  you.'  And  the  old  varsity  catcher  used  his 
strong  arm  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  soon  retired 
the  group  with  puffed  hands.  When  they  came 
back  into  the  house,  Rose  said,  '  Now  you  can  see 
that  you  are  not  the  whole  thing,  what  do  you  say 
about  those  pictures?'  Without  any  other  words, 
the  men  took  the  offensive  decorations  down,  and 
before  the  convention  closed  they  were  led  into  the 
Kingdom." 

At  the  end  of  the  school  year  he  decided  to  accept 
the  call  of  the  Cornell  Association  largely  on  account 
of  the  illness  of  his  wife  to  whom  the  long  separa- 
tions were  exceedingly  prejudicial.  ''It  pulls  my 
heartstrings,"  he  wrote,    "to  have  to  leave  this 

[  164  ] 


HORACE  WILLIAM  ROSE 


traveling  work.  It  is  full  of  so  many  opportuni- 
ties." In  July  he  attended  the  Northfield  Student 
Conference  which  appears  to  have  been  a  time  of 
great  soul-searching  and  illumination.  He  wrote  : 
"The  Northtield  Conference  is  almost  over.  God 
has  spoken  here.  I  have  been  on  the  mount  of 
vision,  and  I  j)ledge  God  to  be  true  to  the  vision. 
But  perhaps  two  things  more  than  others  are  stirring 
the  very  depths  of  my  heart.  I  must  win  more 
souls.  I  must  be  instrumental  in  starting  some  re- 
vivals. With  God's  grace  I  will.  The  second  is 
this :  I  have  heard,  as  never  before,  the  cry  of  the 
Indian  student,  of  the  students  of  Japan  and  China 
and  Australia." 

Entering  into  the  work  at  Cornell  with  his  usual 
abandon  he  endeavored  to  secure  an  endorsement  of 
his  policies  regarding  evangelistic  meetings,  per- 
sonal work,  Bible  and  mission  study,  and  other  ad- 
vance features,  but  met  with  considerable  opposition. 
"The  Executive  Committee,"  he  wrote,  "is  opposed 
to  evangelistic  meetings,  but  we  will  win  them  yet. 
This  is  a  sore  disappointment  to  me  for  I  thought 
they  were  anxious  to  have  the  evangelistic  effort 
characterize  their  work."  The  heart  of  Horace 
Rose  would  have  leaped  had  he  been  able  to  mingle 
in  the  great  evangelistic  meetings  at  Cornell  in 
March,  1916. 

More  and  more  he  was  driven  to  prayer  and  Bible 
study,  withdrawing  to  the  tower  of  Barnes  Hall  for 
his  devotions.  The  former  secretary  found  him 
late  in  the  morning  with  his  coat  off  and  his  note- 
book and  Bible  spread  out  on  the  bed.     "I  would 

[165] 


HEROES  OF  THE  CAMPUS 


uot  think  of  enteriDg  the  day  here,"  said  Eose, 
"  without  speudiug  at  least  au  hour  over  my  Bible 
and  with  Christ  in  prayer.  It  is  hard  to  keep  sweet 
and  yet  do  all  that  must  be  doue." 

Bible  study  grew  steadily  and  an  enrollment  of 
nearly  two  hundred  was  secured.  A  personal  work- 
ers' class  was  also  begun.  Mr.  Hicks  says  :  ' '  Aside 
from  the  administrative  work  of  the  Association  his 
chief  service  was  pastoral  in  character.  The  old 
custom  of  visiting  men  in  their  rooms  had  been  re- 
sumed and  already  his  notebook  in  which  he  entered 
dates  for  personal  interviews  was  well  filled  with 
engagements." 

Then  came  the  typhoid  fever  fastening  itself  inex- 
orably upon  a  system  already  run  down.  In  spite 
of  all  that  could  be  done,  the  fever  developed  until 
on  Thursday,  January  10,  1901,  Horace  Eose,  aged 
twenty-six  years,  three  months,  and  twenty- two 
days,  entered  the  life  immortal. 

Eose  has  been  called  ''  Ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  the  Court  of  the  Individual  Heart."  His  dis- 
tinction lies  in  the  fact  that  he  did  the  kind  of  work 
from  which  most  men  shrink,  the  personal  approach 
in  behalf  of  Christ.  His  prayer  written  at  the  close 
of  a  busy  day  in  college  is  a  fitting  ending  to  this 
brief  appreciation. 

"  The  day  has  gone.  In  the  quiet  of  the  evening 
hour  sit  a  moment  with  thy  better  self  and  think. 
I  began  the  day  early  with  Him.  Since  then  have 
passed  fifteen  golden  hours.  Each  minute  has  been 
fraught  with  privilege  and  responsibility.  Oh, 
what  a  day  of  privilege  !    But  now  I  pause  as  the 

[166] 


HORACE  WILLIAM  ROSE 


uiglit  comes  od,  and  ask  if  what  Moses  and  Aaron 
could  say  is  true  of  this  day  just  passing  out  of  my 
grasp,  'The  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  met  us.'  In 
the  busy  ways,  in  the  studies,  in  the  laboratories, 
on  the  campus,  in  the  closet,  is  it  true  ?  Has  the 
God  of  the  Hebrews  met  me  I 

'*  Thou  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  I  sub- 
mit to  thee  this  day,  its  successes  and  failures.  Use 
both  in  thy  glory.  Give  me  forgiveness  in  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  while  I  sleep  to-night,  O  may  my  heart 
be  on  the  watch  for  new  revelations  of  thee,  and 
when  the  morning  dawns  and  the  night  winds  and 
dews  are  gone,  O  God  of  the  Hebrews,  meet  me  and 
keep  me  near  thee  throughout  each  hour.  May 
this  present  minute  be  a  Bethel  for  my  soul,  the 
place  where  I  meet  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  I " 


[  1fi7  ] 


Bibliography 


In  addition  to  other  sources  of  ioformation  the 
author  is  indebted  to  the  following  writers  and  their 
works  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume  : 

''A  Memorial  of  Horace  Tracy  Pitkin,"  Speer. 

"Arthur  Frame  Jackson  of  Manchuria,"  Costain. 

*' Thirty  Years  in  the  Manchu  Capital,"  Christie. 

"A  Memorial  of  a  True  Life,  Hugh  McAllister 
Beaver,'^  Speer. 

"Life  and  Letters  of  Forbes  Eobinsou,"  by  his 
brother. 

"William  Whiting  Borden,"  Zwemer. 

"Memorials  of  Ion  Keith  Falconer,"  Siuker. 

"SamuelJ.  Mills,"  Eichards. 

"Elijah  Kellogg,  The  Man  and  His  Work," 
Mitchell. 

"  Life  of  Horace  William  Eose,"  Hicks. 


[168] 


Princeton  Theological   Seminary   Ubraries 


1012  01199   2056 


